Sam Rasty brings more than 20 years of experience in biopharma R&D, commercial, business development, strategy and operations in leadership roles of increasing responsibility spanning global large pharma, mid-cap pharma and early stage, private biotech companies. Most recently, he served as Chief Operating Officer at Homology Medicines, a genetic medicines company that he helped launch in 2016, having played a key role in transforming the company from a private start-up to an established, fully integrated public gene therapy and gene editing company. Prior to joining Homology as one of its early employees, he was Vice President and Head of New Products at the Rare Disease Business Unit of Shire Pharmaceuticals. His earlier career included roles spanning corporate development at Endo Pharmaceuticals and commercial strategy and portfolio management at GlaxoSmithKline. He received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Louisiana State University, completed his postdoctoral fellowship in Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and holds an MBA from Villanova University.

Dr. Thon invented PBG’s platelet platform in his laboratory at Harvard Medical School, where he served as an assistant professor. He has published more than 30 peer-reviewed papers on the production and storage of platelets. He earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver.

Sven Karlsson is the co-founder, chief operating officer and chief business officer of Platelet BioGenesis. He has more than a decade experience in business development and financial analysis. Prior to co-founding Platelet BioGenesis he worked as a merger and acquisition principal at J.P. Morgan, an analyst at a hedge fund, and as a venture capital investor. He earned his M.B.A. from the Stern School of Business at New York University.

Mark is a managing partner of the Qiming U.S. Healthcare Fund. Previously, he served as chief operating officer of UCB Pharma, CEO of PDL BioPharma, CEO of Signature BioScience and COO of Boehringer Mannheim Therapeutics. He serves on the boards of FivePrime Therapeutics, Dermira Inc., and Aimmune Therapeutics. He received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Joseph Italiano, Ph.D. is an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, where he leads his own lab focused on platelet production. He is also assistant professor in the Department of Surgery at Children’s Hospital Boston. Dr. Italiano earned his Ph.D. in cell biology from Florida State University. He is a co-founder of Platelet BioGenesis and chairman of the company’s scientific advisory board.

Sam Rasty brings more than 20 years of experience in biopharma R&D, commercial, business development, strategy and operations in leadership roles of increasing responsibility spanning global large pharma, mid-cap pharma and early stage, private biotech companies. Most recently, he served as Chief Operating Officer at Homology Medicines, a genetic medicines company that he helped launch in 2016, having played a key role in transforming the company from a private start-up to an established, fully integrated public gene therapy and gene editing company. Prior to joining Homology as one of its early employees, he was Vice President and Head of New Products at the Rare Disease Business Unit of Shire Pharmaceuticals. His earlier career included roles spanning corporate development at Endo Pharmaceuticals and commercial strategy and portfolio management at GlaxoSmithKline. He received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Louisiana State University, completed his postdoctoral fellowship in Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and holds an MBA from Villanova University.

Sven Karlsson is the co-founder, chief operating officer and chief business officer of Platelet BioGenesis. He has more than a decade experience in business development and financial analysis. Prior to co-founding Platelet BioGenesis he worked as a merger and acquisition principal at J.P. Morgan, an analyst at a hedge fund, and as a venture capital investor. He earned his M.B.A. from the Stern School of Business at New York University.