Leadership
David Hirsch, MD, PhD
Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Hirsch joined Alpha-9 from Longitude Capital where he currently serves as a Venture Partner. During his time at Longitude, he served on the board of more than 10 biotechnology companies. Prior to Longitude Capital, he was a Vice President at Pequot Ventures and an Engagement Manager in the pharmaceutical practice of McKinsey. Dr. Hirsch holds a PhD in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an MD from Harvard Medical School, and a BA in Biology from Johns Hopkins University.
Alison Fleming, PhD
Chief Operating Officer
Dr. Fleming joined Alpha-9 as COO in October 2021, bringing 20 years of pharmaceutical experience with a focus on CMC leadership, spanning clinical trials to commercial supply. Previously, Dr. Fleming was the Chief Technology Officer at Collegium Pharmaceutical, where she oversaw commercial manufacturing, supply chain, formulation development, and quality assurance. Dr. Fleming earned her PhD from the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Cornell University, where her research focused on novel drug delivery systems, and her BS degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Matthias Jaffe
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Jaffé joined Alpha-9 as CFO in May 2021. In the 20 years leading to his current role, he was CFO of several private and public life science companies including LogicBio, Constellation Pharmaceuticals, Zafgen and Alantos Pharmaceuticals. Previously, he was a principal at Earlybird Venture Capital in Munich and a consultant with Boston Consulting Group. Mr. Jaffé holds an MBA from INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France), an MSc in Biology from MIT, and a BS in Chemistry from Universidad Simón Bolivar in his native Venezuela.
Stephen Mitchener, PharmD
Chief Business Officer
Dr. Mitchener joined Alpha-9 as CBO in December 2023, bringing over 20 years of pharmaceutical experience with a focus on Commercial, Business Development, Strategy and General Management. Dr. Mitchener’s career spans both global and US focused roles in both the Big Pharma and Biotech setting. Previous roles include Head of Strategy, Partnering, and Operations for the US Division of Novartis Oncology, Head of Novartis Oncology Franchise for Australia/New Zealand, and multiple CBO roles encompassing successful capital raises and in-licensing/out-licensing initiatives ranging from discovery to commercial stage deals. Dr. Mitchener received his PharmD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Ovid Trifan, MD, PhD
Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Trifan joined Alpha-9 as CMO in January 2024, bringing over 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical clinical development. Prior to Alpha-9, he served as the Chief Medical Officer at Apexigen, TRexBio, and most recently Totus Medicines. Previous roles include positions in clinical development at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Onyx Therapeutics, Johnson & Johnson, and Pharmacia. Dr. Trifan holds an MD in Medicine and a PhD in Cell Biology from Carol Davila University in Bucharest, Romania.
Jutta Wanner, PhD
SVP, Drug Discovery
Dr. Wanner joined Alpha-9 as a Senior Vice President of Drug Discovery in February 2023. She brings over 20 years of experience in drug discovery, including leading small molecule and targeted drug conjugate projects as the CSO and CTO of multiple biotechnology organizations. Previously she spent a decade at Hoffmann-La Roche in a number of drug discovery roles. Dr. Wanner received her PhD from the University of Kansas and conducted her postdoctoral training at The Scripps Research Institute in San Diego.
Board of Directors
Patrick Heron
Mr. Heron is a Managing Partner of Frazier’s Life Sciences team. He joined the firm in 1999 as an associate and opened Frazier’s Menlo Park office in 2003 as a partner. Throughout his 16 years as a General and then Managing Partner, Mr. Heron has led or co-led investments across 30 companies. He has successfully partnered with entrepreneurs across a range of company types and stages, from early-stage metabolic companies to >$100M commercial-stage dermatology companies, and has led and served as director for more than fifteen successful life sciences companies. Mr. Heron earned his MBA from Harvard Business School and BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Jean-Jacques Bienaimé
Mr. Bienaimé previously served as CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of BioMarin. Prior to BioMarin, Mr. Bienaimé also served as Chairman and CEO of Genencor, a biotech focused on targeted cancer biotherapeutics, and Sangstat, an immunology company. Mr. Bienaimé also held several senior management positions at Rhône-Poulenc Rorer Pharmaceuticals (now Sanofi), culminating in the position of Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing and Business Development. Mr. Bienaimé received an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a degree in economics from the École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris.
Shelley Chu, MD, PhD
Dr. Chu leads Lightspeed Venture Partners’ Healthcare investment team. She brings more than 20 years of investing and operating experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. To date, her investments across all stages, from seed to growth, have led to seven New Drug Approvals (NDAs) by the FDA and 16 exits through M&As, IPOs, or partnerships. During her time at Gilead, where Dr. Chu led R&D strategy across all therapeutic areas and business development in immuno-oncology and HBV, three NDAs were approved and launched. Dr. Chu holds an MD and a PhD in Biochemistry and Biophysics from the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) and a BA in Molecular Biology from Princeton University, where she serves as Co-Chair for Princeton ASC. She is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for BioCentury.
David Hirsch, MD, PhD
Dr. Hirsch joined Alpha-9 from Longitude Capital where he currently serves as a Venture Partner. During his time at Longitude, he served on the board of more than 10 biotechnology companies. Prior to Longitude Capital, he was a Vice President at Pequot Ventures and an Engagement Manager in the pharmaceutical practice of McKinsey. Dr. Hirsch holds a PhD in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an MD from Harvard Medical School, and a BA in Biology from Johns Hopkins University.
Melissa McCracken, PhD
Dr. McCracken is a Partner at Nextech, which she joined in 2019. She is a scientist by training and has a passion for emerging technologies in cancer therapies. Dr. McCracken is a board member of TYRA Biosciences and Ambagon Therapeutics, board observer of IconOVir Bio, and a previous board member of ImaginAb and board observer of Silverback Therapeutics. Prior to Nextech, Dr. McCracken was at Third Rock Ventures where she helped build and launch Celsius Therapeutics, a company focused on discovering precision therapeutics for oncology and autoimmune. Dr. McCracken completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University where her research focused on immuno-oncology. She holds a PhD in molecular and medical pharmacology from University of California and a BS in biochemistry and molecular biology from University of California.
Darcy Mootz, PhD
Dr. Mootz currently serves as President of Architect Therapeutics. Her prior role was at Amunix, raising almost $200M in private financings and leading the sale of the company to Sanofi as Chief Business Officer and serving as the Site Head of Amunix following the acquisition. Previously, she served as the Chief Business Officer of ORIC Pharmaceuticals, where she had a broad role spanning corporate development and a variety of operational functions. Before that, she was the VP of Corporate Development at Achaogen, where she helped the company complete a successful IPO, led the project team for the company’s lead antibiotic (now launched as ZEMDRI), and helped raise over $200M in capital. She holds a BS in Biology from Duke University and a PhD in Biochemistry from Harvard University.
Evan Rachlin, MD
Dr. Rachlin, MD, is a Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Ascenta Capital, a venture capital biotech fund. He was previously Managing Director at Blackstone Life Sciences, Head of Strategy (reporting to the CEO) at Moderna, and a Principal at Bain Capital Ventures. He began his career at McKinsey & Company and Pfizer in New York City. Dr. Rachlin earned an MD from Harvard Medical School, MBA from Harvard Business School, and AB from Harvard College with a concentration in Biochemistry and a citation in Japanese. He is a member of the Boston Children’s Hospital Trust Board.
Steven Stein, MD
Dr. Stein currently serves as Executive Vice President, Chief Medical Officer at Incyte, where he leads the development strategy for the company’s therapeutic pipeline and oversees clinical development. Previously he worked at Novartis as Senior Vice President, U.S. Clinical Development & Medical Affairs at Novartis Oncology. Prior to Novartis, Dr. Stein served in leadership positions at GlaxoSmithKline, including Head of Medicines Development for Hematology and Supportive Care and Vice President, Global Oncology, Clinical Development. Dr. Stein earned his MBBCH from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Matthew Young
Mr. Young is a Managing Director of Longitude Capital. Prior to joining Longitude Capital in 2022, Mr. Young was the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of GRAIL, a developer of blood cancer tests that was acquired by Illumina for $8 billion in 2021. Prior to joining GRAIL, Mr. Young served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ), an LVP1 portfolio company. Prior to joining Jazz, Mr. Young worked in investment banking for approximately 20 years. From February 2009 to April 2013, he served as a Managing Director in global healthcare of Barclays Capital, where he served as co-head of the life sciences group. From 2007 to 2008, Mr. Young served as a Managing Director of Citigroup, and from 2003 to 2007, as a Managing Director of Lehman Brothers. Mr. Young holds an MBA and a BS in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Vineeta Agarwala, MD, PhD
Dr. Agarwala, MD, PhD is a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) where she leads investments for the firm’s bio + health fund across biotech, life sciences software, and digital health. She was previously a consultant at McKinsey, director of product management at Flatiron Health, and venture partner at GV (Google Ventures). Dr. Agarwala holds a BS in biophysics from Stanford University, and MD and PhD degrees from Harvard Medical School/MIT; she completed her graduate work in computational biology and human genetics at the Broad Institute. She continues to see patients at Stanford as an adjunct clinical professor in the Division of Primary Care and Population Health.
Rachit Neupane, PhD
Dr. Neupane, PhD is an investor at General Catalyst where he contributes to the health assurance team by driving success for the firm’s portfolio companies and new investments across biotech and life sciences. Before joining GC, Dr. Neupane was an investor at CaaS Capital Management, where he helped establish the firm’s biotech strategy for private and public markets. Prior to CaaS, he began his career as a consultant at Clarion, a biopharma consultancy firm. Dr. Neupane earned a BS in biology at Bard College, a healthcare certificate at Sloan School of Management, and his PhD in biology at MIT.
Scientific Advisory Board
François Bénard, MD
Dr. Bénard is a co-founder of Alpha-9 Oncology and has more than 20 years of experience in radiopharmaceutical development and has published more than 200 papers in the field. Dr. Bénard is currently the BC Leadership Chair in Functional Cancer Imaging, based at the University of British Columbia (UBC), and Professor in the department of Radiology. Dr. Bénard is also a Distinguished Scientist at BC Cancer, and a recipient of the 2015 NSERC Brockhouse Canada Prize for Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Engineering. His research focuses on the development of novel radiopharmaceuticals for cancer diagnosis and therapy, their translation towards clinical implementation, and designing/conducting clinical trials in nuclear medicine.
Dr. Bénard trained in nuclear medicine in Sherbrooke, Canada, where he became head of the Molecular Imaging Center at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, and Professor of nuclear medicine and radiobiology at the Université de Sherbrooke. He completed his early training at the University of Pennsylvania under Abass Alavi, whose team performed the first whole body FDG PET scan.
Andrei Iagaru, MD
Dr. Iagaru is a Professor of Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and the Chief of the Division of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging at Stanford University Medical Center. Dr. Iagaru finished his residency and completed a PET/CT fellowship at Stanford University’s School of Medicine in the Division of Nuclear Medicine. He began his residency at the University of Southern California (USC) Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, in the Division of Nuclear Medicine. Prior to that, he completed medical school at Carol Davila University of Medicine, Bucharest, Romania, and an internship at Drexel University College of Medicine, Graduate Hospital, in the Department of Medicine in Philadelphia. Dr. Iagaru published more than 210 papers in peer-reviewed journals, as well as 9 book chapters and 1 book.
Jason S. Lewis, PhD
Professor Jason S. Lewis is the Emily Tow Jackson Chair at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. He is the Chief Attending of the Radiochemistry & Imaging Sciences Service and serves as the Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Radiology. He also holds appointments at the Gerstner Sloan-Kettering Graduate School, New York, NY and the Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY. Professor Lewis has served as the 2015 President of the World Molecular Imaging Society and is the President of the Society for Radiopharmaceutical Sciences.
He has been awarded the SNMMI Michael J. Welch Award, the SNMMI Paul C. Aebersold Award, the ACS Bioconjugate Chemistry Lectureship Award, the Gold Medal from the World Molecular Imaging Society and in 2023 he will receive the ACS Glenn Seaborg Award for Nuclear Chemistry.
He is a Fellow of the World Molecular Imaging Society, Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, the Royal Society of Chemistry, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Institute for Medical & Biological Engineering.
Professor Lewis’ research program is a molecular imaging-based program focused on radiopharmaceutical development as well as the study of small- and biomolecule-based therapeutic and diagnostic agents and their clinical translation. He has published >300 papers and reviews in the field of radiochemistry and molecular imaging.
Tom Ruth, PhD
Thomas Ruth, PhD, is Emeritus Senior Research Scientist at TRIUMF and Emeritus Senior Scientist at the British Columbia Cancer Research Centre. Dr. Ruth holds Adjunct Professorships in Physics at the University of Victoria and Medicine at the University of British Columbia. He is a leader in the production and application of radioisotopes for research in the physical and biological sciences. He has served on a multitude of national and international committees (USDOE, NAS, IAEA).
He served as Director for the UBC/TRIUMF PET Program (1989-2006) during which time he oversaw the installation of the TR13 (TRIUMF) and a TR19 (BC Cancer Agency) cyclotrons plus 5 PET scanners at UBC.
Dr. Ruth received a Master of Arts in Nuclear Chemistry from the College of William and Mary in Virginia and his Ph.D. in nuclear spectroscopy from Clark University in Massachusetts. He was a Staff Chemist within the Chemistry Department at Brookhaven National Lab working with Drs. Al Wolf and Joanna Fowler from 1976 to 1980. He has published more than 300 peer reviewed papers and book chapters (>15,000 citations).
He is the 2011 recipient of the Michael J. Welch Award from the Society of Nuclear Medicine for his contributions to Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry. In 2015, along with 5 of his colleagues he received NSERC’s Brockhowuse Award for their innovative work in producing 99mTc using medical cyclotrons. In June 2019, he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. In June 2021, he received the Georg de Hevesy Award for his pioneering work in the field of nuclear medicine from the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Medical Imaging and made a Fellow in the Society of Radiopharmaceutical Sciences.