About Us

John Lepore, M.D., joins ProFound after 17 years at GSK where he had extensive experience leading large international R&D organizations across diverse therapeutic areas. Dr. Lepore was most recently Senior Vice President, Head of Research at GSK where he led a large organization of scientists and physicians focused on leveraging the science of immunology, human genetics and genomics, and advanced technologies to identify novel drug targets, discover new therapeutic molecules, and demonstrate proof of mechanism in clinical studies.  

Dr. Lepore joined GSK in 2006 and has held roles of increasing responsibility including VP of Clinical Pharmacology and Discovery Medicine, VP and Head of the Heart Failure Discovery Performance Unit, SVP and Head of the Metabolic Pathways and Cardiovascular Therapeutic Area Unit, and SVP R&D Pipeline responsible for end-to-end R&D activities across multiple therapeutic areas. He was also Interim Head of Business Development and played a key role in multiple preclinical and clinical deals to augment the GSK pipeline. 

Before joining GSK, Dr. Lepore was on the faculty of the Cardiovascular Medicine Division of the Department of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where his lab investigated the transcriptional regulation of cardiovascular development and he was attending physician on the academic cardiology service.  

Dr. Lepore received his B.S. in Biology from the University of Scranton and his medical degree from Harvard Medical School where he was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Scholar. He subsequently trained in internal medicine and cardiology and served as Medical Chief Resident at Massachusetts General Hospital, with post-doctoral training at the Harvard School of Public Health. 

Dr. Lepore has been on the Board of Directors of ViiV Healthcare, the Altius Institute, and the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), the Scientific Advisory Boards of Medicxi Ventures and Hatteras Ventures, and the Innovation Growth Board of Mass General Brigham. At GSK, he chaired the Research Review Board and Research Investment Board responsible for capital allocation and project prioritization.

Kala Subramanian joined Flagship Pioneering in 2021 as an Operating Partner working with Flagship NewCos to increase value creation as well as drive operational and strategic initiatives. She brings broad expertise in strategic planning, operations, business development and licensing, and global program and portfolio management. Kala has held leadership positions in emerging biotech companies as well as large pharma.

Before joining Flagship, Kala was Chief of Staff, Head of Strategy and Business Development & Licensing at Ichnos Sciences. She led Ichnos’ separation from its parent company, developing the company’s corporate strategy and preparing for fundraising and due diligence necessary for external partnerships. Prior to Ichnos, Kala served as VP, Chief of Staff Oncology at Gilead Sciences/Kite Pharma and SVP, Head of Strategic Development and Operations at CRISPR Therapeutics. She spent 13 years at Novartis Pharmaceuticals in a variety of roles including VP, Global Head of Strategic Development, and Program Management in Oncology Global Development and Medical Affairs. She led the program and portfolio management, as well as strategic planning and budget management for a portfolio of over 25 compounds. Prior to Novartis, Kala worked at Accenture and Millennium.

Kala holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Cornell University, and completed postdoctoral research in cell biology at Duke University Medical Center.

Klaus brings three decades of drug discovery and development experience to ProFound, with a successful track record in discovering and advancing first-in-human medicines from the lab to the clinic. As the Chief Scientific Officer, Klaus leads ProFound’s platform and drug discovery and development efforts to advance first-in-class therapeutics.

Prior to joining ProFound, Klaus was at Merck KGaA for 13 years, where he most recently served as the Head of EMD Serono Research and Development Institute, Global Head of Discovery and Development Technologies, Co-Chair of the Discovery-Research Committee, and Member of the Merck Ventures investment board. During his tenure, he helped rebuild the company’s R&D organization, leading discovery and development of therapeutic proteins, small molecules, and antibody-drug conjugates. Prior to Merck, Klaus served in leadership positions at AstraZeneca and Bayer, where he began his career as a medicinal chemist.

Klaus is a co-author of more than 80 publications and patents. He earned his B.S. from the University of Kiel and his M.S. from the University of Freiburg. He graduated with a Ph.D. in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from the Goethe University of Frankfurt.

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Vini Mani joined Flagship Pioneering as an associate in 2019, working across the life cycle of emerging ventures in the life sciences. In her role, she works as part of the team of entrepreneurial scientists exploring new areas of biology to create and grow Flagship’s first-in-class platforms, in roles ranging from scientific development, early stage strategy, and intellectual property. At Flagship Pioneering, Vini co-founded ProFound Therapeutics, leading the genesis and growth of the ProFoundry Platform. She was also involved in the early growth of Ring Therapeutics and contributed to the origination of other endeavors still in stealth.

Prior to joining Flagship, Vini co-founded and served as Director of Product Development at Adeo Health Science, a Boston-based startup focused on the prevention of allergy development in children. From her undergraduate work, Vini co-founded Knox Medical Diagnostics (now Aluna Health), with the mission to detect the onset of asthma flares.

Vini completed her doctoral studies in Immunology at Harvard Medical School. Her graduate work shifted the paradigm of T cell differentiation, uncovering a novel stage of T cell development termed “homeostatic conditioning". Vini’s graduate work resulted in several high-impact publications in journals such as Science, Cell and Nature, and earned her several honors, including the Janeway Award from the American Association of Immunologists.

Vini holds a Ph.D. in Immunology from Harvard Medical School and a B.S. in Bioengineering with a Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Technology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Avak Kahvejian, Ph.D. is a life sciences inventor, entrepreneur, and CEO who has co-founded more than ten companies. Since 2011, he has been a partner at Flagship Pioneering, where he leads a team to invent and launch new therapeutic platforms. His work has led to the creation of multiple high-value public and private companies, including Seres Therapeutics (NASDAQ: MCRB); the first microbiome therapy platform; Ring Therapeutics (revolutionizing gene therapy with its commensal virome platform); Cellarity (designing medicines against the cell as opposed to a single molecular target); Laronde (pioneering endless RNA – eRNA™ – a new class of programmable medicines capable of expressing therapeutic proteins inside the body); Generate Biomedicines (pioneering Generative Biology™ to create breakthrough medicines); ProFound Therapeutics (pioneering the expanded human proteome); Ampersand Biomedicines (designing and programming medicines to act only where needed); Cygnal Therapeutics (now part of Sonata Tx, a company designing therapeutics that reprogram diseased cells to become the coordinators of cure); Rubius Therapeutics (red blood cell therapeutics); and Codiak BioSciences (engineered exosome therapeutics).

Avak served as founding President and CEO of Rubius from 2013 to 2017, as co-CEO of Generate from 2018 to 2021, and as founding CEO of Cellarity (2017 to 2020), Laronde (2017 to 2020), Ring (2017 to 2020), ProFound (2020 to 2023), and Ampersand (2021 to 2023). He is on the boards of Cellarity and Laronde and Chairman of Ring.

Prior to Flagship, Avak was Vice President of Business Development at Helicos BioSciences. In this role, he developed and commercialized the world’s first single molecule DNA sequencer.

Avak serves as the Chairman of the Board of the International Institute of New England, an institution which creates opportunities for refugees and immigrants to succeed through resettlement, education, career advancement and pathways to citizenship. He is also on the Advisory Board of the Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST).

Avak earned his Ph.D. and B.Sc. in Biochemistry from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

Vini Mani joined Flagship Pioneering as an associate in 2019, working across the life cycle of emerging ventures in the life sciences. In her role, she works as part of the team of entrepreneurial scientists exploring new areas of biology to create and grow Flagship’s first-in-class platforms, in roles ranging from scientific development, early stage strategy, and intellectual property. At Flagship Pioneering, Vini co-founded ProFound Therapeutics, leading the genesis and growth of the ProFoundry Platform. She was also involved in the early growth of Ring Therapeutics and contributed to the origination of other endeavors still in stealth.

Prior to joining Flagship, Vini co-founded and served as Director of Product Development at Adeo Health Science, a Boston-based startup focused on the prevention of allergy development in children. From her undergraduate work, Vini co-founded Knox Medical Diagnostics (now Aluna Health), with the mission to detect the onset of asthma flares.

Vini completed her doctoral studies in Immunology at Harvard Medical School. Her graduate work shifted the paradigm of T cell differentiation, uncovering a novel stage of T cell development termed “homeostatic conditioning". Vini’s graduate work resulted in several high-impact publications in journals such as Science, Cell and Nature, and earned her several honors, including the Janeway Award from the American Association of Immunologists.

Vini holds a Ph.D. in Immunology from Harvard Medical School and a B.S. in Bioengineering with a Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Technology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Erica Weinstein joined Flagship Pioneering in 2015 after completing the firm's Fellowship Program. At Flagship, Erica works as part of a team of entrepreneurial scientists exploring innovative ideas and developing the science, intellectual property, and business strategy that form the foundation of breakthrough startups.

At Flagship, Erica co-founded Ring Therapeutics, Laronde Therapeutics and ProFound Therapeutics and launched Inzen Therapeutics. At Laronde, Erica led the value creation strategy along with the biology team. Previously at Ring, she led the translation team where she invented and developed the company’s Anellovector platform.

Before joining Flagship, Erica earned her doctorate in biomedical sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she researched the emerging role of the microbiome in autoimmune disease development. During her studies, Erica was the recipient of the Helmsley Charitable Trust Fellowship and the Levine Foundation Fellowship Awards. Erica received her B.S. in biology and minor in global health, culture, and society from Emory University. Erica's work has resulted in numerous patents and publications. Erica was honored in 2017 as a top female leader in Business Insider's 30 Biotech leaders under 40, and in2021 in Business Insiders’ list of 12 young serial entrepreneurs building the nextgeneration of biotech startups.

Kala Subramanian joined Flagship Pioneering in 2021 as an Operating Partner working with Flagship NewCos to increase value creation as well as drive operational and strategic initiatives. She brings broad expertise in strategic planning, operations, business development and licensing, and global program and portfolio management. Kala has held leadership positions in emerging biotech companies as well as large pharma.

Before joining Flagship, Kala was Chief of Staff, Head of Strategy and Business Development & Licensing at Ichnos Sciences. She led Ichnos’ separation from its parent company, developing the company’s corporate strategy and preparing for fundraising and due diligence necessary for external partnerships. Prior to Ichnos, Kala served as VP, Chief of Staff Oncology at Gilead Sciences/Kite Pharma and SVP, Head of Strategic Development and Operations at CRISPR Therapeutics. She spent 13 years at Novartis Pharmaceuticals in a variety of roles including VP, Global Head of Strategic Development, and Program Management in Oncology Global Development and Medical Affairs. She led the program and portfolio management, as well as strategic planning and budget management for a portfolio of over 25 compounds. Prior to Novartis, Kala worked at Accenture and Millennium.

Kala holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Cornell University, and completed postdoctoral research in cell biology at Duke University Medical Center.

Yann Echelard joined Flagship Pioneering in 2018, focusing on internal biotechnology innovation and venture creation. Prior to Flagship, Yann was president and CEO at rEVO Biologics, which developed and commercialized therapeutics for thromboembolic disorders and critical care. At rEVO Biologics (and its predecessors Genzyme Transgenics and GTC Biotherapeutics) since 1994, Yann was initially involved with technology development leading to the commercial application of somatic cell nuclear transfer technology in large animals and to the regulatory approval of ATryn®, the first transgenically-derived therapeutic. Later, his involvement in business and corporate development culminated in the eventual acquisition of GTC by LFB SA, the French plasma fractionator. In addition to his role at rEVO and LFB, Yann was also engaged in spinning-out several companies out of the LFB group, such as Hema Biologics (focused on bleeding disorders), LFB-USA (transgenic platform), and TG Therapeutics.

Yann earned his Ph.D. from Université de Montréal in the laboratory of Dr. Alexandre Sasarman, working on the genetic characterization of heme biosyntesis pathway. After initial postdoctoral training in oncology at the Ludwig Institute Montreal branch (McGill University), he was a visiting scientist in the laboratory of Andy McMahon at the Roche Institute and at Harvard University where he worked on the regulation of Wnt-1 and on the isolation and functional characterization of the Hedgehog genes, the first identified vertebrate morphogens.

Yann is currently a director at TG Therapeutics (NASDAQ:TGTX), a New York City based biotechnology company focused the B-cell malignancies and auto-immune disorders.

Noubar Afeyan has dedicated his career to improving the human condition by systematically creating science-based innovations that serve as the foundation for startup companies. At Flagship Pioneering, which he founded in 2000, Noubar has created an enterprise where entrepreneurially minded scientists invent seemingly unreasonable solutions to challenges facing human health and sustainability. They begin by asking “What if?” and iterate toward the unexpected answer “It turns out,” resulting in the creation of first-in-category companies with significant impact. Flagship has fostered the development of more than 100 scientific ventures resulting in over $140 billion in aggregate value, thousands of patents and patent applications, and more than 50 drugs in clinical development.

During his career as inventor, entrepreneur, and CEO, Noubar has cofounded and helped build over 50 life science and technology startups. Prior to founding Flagship Pioneering, Noubar was the founder and CEO of PerSeptive Biosystems, a leader in bio-instrumentation that grew to $100 million in annual revenues. After PerSeptive’s acquisition by Perkin Elmer/Applera Corporation in 1998, he became senior vice president and chief business officer of Applera, where he initiated and oversaw the creation of Celera Genomics.

He is the co-founder and chairman of the board of Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA), the pioneering messenger RNA vaccine company addressing the global COVID-19 pandemic, Omega Therapeutics (NASDAQ: OMGA), Generate Biomedicines, Tessera Therapeutics, and Laronde. He is also co-founder and board member of Rubius Therapeutics (NASDAQ: RUBY) and YourBio Health. Previously, he was a member of the founding team, director, and investor in highly successful ventures including Chemgenics Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Millenium Pharmaceuticals), Color Kinetics (acquired by Philips), Adnexus Therapeutics (acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb), and Affinnova (acquired by AC Nielsen).

Noubar entered biotechnology during its emergence as an academic field and industry, completing his doctoral work in biochemical engineering at MIT in 1987. He has written numerous scientific publications and is the inventor of over 100 patents. He was a senior lecturer at MIT’s Sloan School of Management from 2000 to 2016, and a lecturer at Harvard Business School until 2020. He teaches and speaks around the world on topics ranging from entrepreneurship, innovation, and economic development to biological engineering, new medicines, and renewable energy.

Noubar’s commitment to improving the human condition through science and business goes hand in hand with social investments and a global humanitarian initiative. Together with his partners, he has launched philanthropic projects including the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, FAST Foundation, and the UWC Dilijan School. Noubar is a member of the Corporation of MIT (the Institute’s governing body) and a member of the board of trustees for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Noubar was born in Beirut to Armenian parents in 1962, did his undergraduate work at McGill University in Montreal, and completed his Ph.D. in biochemical engineering at MIT in 1987. A passionate advocate of the contributions of immigrants to economic and scientific progress, Noubar received the Golden Door Award in 2017 from the International Institute of New England, in honor of his outstanding contributions to American society as a U.S citizen of foreign birth. He was also awarded a Great Immigrant honor from the Carnegie Corporation in 2016, received a Technology Pioneer award from the World Economic Forum in 2012, and was presented with the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2008. In 2022, Noubar was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

Charlotte joined Flagship Pioneering as an associate in 2020 after completing the summer fellowship program. Since her arrival, she has been working across the life cycle of emerging ventures in the life sciences. She works in roles ranging from ideation, scientific development, early-stage strategy, and intellectual property as part of a team of entrepreneurial scientists exploring new areas of biology to create and grow Flagship’s first-in-class bioplatforms.

At Flagship Pioneering, Charlotte is a member of the Founding Team of ProFound Therapeutics, focusing on the proteomics strategy and the proteomics team development. In addition to her role in establishing ProFound, Charlotte became a co-founder of three additional stealth-mode companies.

Prior to joining Flagship, Charlotte completed her PhD in quantitative mass spectrometry-based proteomics in the groups of Prof. Aebersold and Dr. Collins at ETH Zurich in Switzerland. During her thesis, she worked on developing and applying protein-protein interaction detection methods to study host-pathogen interactions.