18 -19
May

Venture Capital & Private Equity Boston

Investment Challenges and Opportunities in Emerging Biotech Markets

Le Meridien Cambridge Boston

Fully Booked

What to expect

Timely information, interactive format

Real insights are shared in conversations, not lectures. That’s why our unique roundtable format guarantees real learning and ensures you only attend discussions that deliver value to you. rnrnJoin as many as four roundtable discussions, each with up to 20 other subject experts, networking with top-level peers in an informal, relaxed and sociable environment.

Our Facilitators

Our panel of facilitators plays a key role in shaping the agenda for the day. Whilst we’re busy connecting with the best industry experts, take a look at our facilitators.

Carolina Alarco

Founder and Principal Bio Strategy Advisors

Claire Elizabeth Smith

Partner SpringTide Ventures

Christina Ansted

Senior Managing Partner RCP Venture Capital

Dong Xu

Former Associate Director, Analytical Development for TCR-T Cell Therapy TScan Therapeutics

Farnaz Bakhshi

Director of Innovation BrightEdge – American Cancer Society

Farnaz joined BrightEdge in early 2022 as the Director of Innovation, leading the organization’s innovation initiatives. She spearheads programs such as the BrightEdge Entrepreneurs (BEE) program, the Texas Accelerator, the ACS Collaborative Learning Community, and other initiatives that support early-stage entrepreneurs. Before BrightEdge, Farnaz held key business development roles at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), and Mass General Brigham (formerly Partners Healthcare). At Caltech, she played a pivotal role in helping researchers launch start-ups, while at Mass General Brigham, she negotiated high-value licensing agreements totaling millions of dollars. Additionally, she established a biotech incubator and proof-of-concept fund at Tufts University and served as Director of New Ventures at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Farnaz earned her Ph.D. in Pharmacology from UIC. Prior to her doctoral studies, she gained valuable entrepreneurial experience by co-founding and managing a start-up company based on her undergraduate research, contributing to its development, launch, and fundraising efforts.

Gavin Loudfoot

Vice President, Business Development BV Investment Partners

Goldi Kaul

Vice President, Head of External Alternative CMC Development Boehringer Ingelheim

Kristin King Jankiewicz

Head, Group Management Boston Harbor Angels

Michal Preminger

Stratetic Advisor Jefferson Life Sciences

Neil Kairen

Managing Director Biotech Value Advisors

Nelly Viseux

Vice President, Cell Therapies Development, Manufacturing, Supply & Quality Regeneron

Sean Cumiskey

Head, Investor Relations Omega Funds

Sean joined Omega Funds in 2024. Prior to joining Omega, Sean was a Partner and Chief Strategy Officer at Yiheng Capital Management, an Asia-focused alternative investment manager, where he implemented growth strategies that resulted in an increase of assets under management from an initial base of $350 million to over $3 billion at peak. Previously, Sean was a Director at Farallon Capital Management, with responsibility for new business development, product strategy and investor relations. Before Farallon, Sean was a Managing Director at York Capital Management, a global multi-asset alternative investment firm, where he directed key elements of the firm’s global investor relations efforts. Prior to York, Sean was on the Executive Committee at Ivy Asset Management, overseeing over $16 billion in global alternative investments. In previous years, Sean was Director of Portfolio Strategy at a Silicon Valley wealth management firm and Head of Investment Consulting at Montgomery Securities, a technology-focused investment bank. Sean received his BA from the University of California, Los Angeles, and MBA from Columbia Business School

Stephanie Oestreich

Managing Director Myeloma Investment Fund

Tomasz H. Zastawny, PhD, DSc

Chief Executive Officer Armora Biosciences

First name	Last name	Job title	Company name	Photo URL	Bio Position
Carolina	Alarco	Founder and Principal	Bio Strategy Advisors	https://proventainternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Carolina-Alarco.jpg
Claire	Elizabeth Smith	Partner	SpringTide Ventures	https://proventainternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Claire-Elizabeth-Smith.jpg	Claire is a partner at SpringTide and has spent her career focused at the intersection of healthcare, life sciences, and business. Prior to SpringTide, she was an investor at Meridian Street Capital, where she focused on seed-stage health tech, and Anterra Capital, where she focused on the intersection of biotech and agriculture while launching several animal health startups. Previously, she served as the Chief of Staff at Crestovo, a microbiome therapeutics startup acquired by Finch Therapeutics. She began her career at ClearView Healthcare Partners, a boutique life sciences consultancy, where she advised pharma and biotech clients on a variety of growth strategy topics. Claire holds bachelor’s degrees in biological engineering and management science from MIT.She is on the board of Leash Labs and serves as a board observer at IgniteData and Paterna Biosciences.
Christina	Ansted	Senior Managing Partner	RCP Venture Capital	https://proventainternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Christina-Ansted.jpg
Dong	Xu	Former Associate Director, Analytical Development for TCR-T Cell Therapy	TScan Therapeutics	https://proventainternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Dong-Xu.jpg
Farnaz	Bakhshi	Director of Innovation	BrightEdge – American Cancer Society	https://proventainternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Farnaz-Bakhshi-.jpg	Farnaz joined BrightEdge in early 2022 as the Director of Innovation, leading the organization’s innovation initiatives. She spearheads programs such as the BrightEdge Entrepreneurs (BEE) program, the Texas Accelerator, the ACS Collaborative Learning Community, and other initiatives that support early-stage entrepreneurs. Before BrightEdge, Farnaz held key business development roles at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), and Mass General Brigham (formerly Partners Healthcare). At Caltech, she played a pivotal role in helping researchers launch start-ups, while at Mass General Brigham, she negotiated high-value licensing agreements totaling millions of dollars. Additionally, she established a biotech incubator and proof-of-concept fund at Tufts University and served as Director of New Ventures at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Farnaz earned her Ph.D. in Pharmacology from UIC. Prior to her doctoral studies, she gained valuable entrepreneurial experience by co-founding and managing a start-up company based on her undergraduate research, contributing to its development, launch, and fundraising efforts.
Gavin	Loudfoot	Vice President, Business Development	BV Investment Partners	https://proventainternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Gavin-Loudfoot.jpg	Gavin Loudfoot is currently a Vice President at Boston Ventures, previously with OpenView Venture Partners, investing in software and tech-enabled services across several sectors, including healthcare IT. After a decade in investment roles, Gavin is joining Lila Sciences, a Flagship Pioneering-backed AI platform company, where he will help commercialize the concept of scientific superintelligence—using AI and autonomous laboratories to compress R&D timelines across life sciences, materials, and energy. Compressed version (from what I see on the site)—VP at Boston Ventures, previously at OpenView Ventures. Soon to join Lila Sciences to help commercialize the concept of scientific superintelligence— deploying AI and autonomous laboratories to life sciences.
Goldi	Kaul	Vice President, Head of External Alternative CMC Development	Boehringer Ingelheim	https://proventainternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Goldi-Kaul.png	Goldi Kaul, PhD, is a pharmaceutical executive with over 15 years of experience driving global CMC development, manufacturing, and commercialization. She currently serves as Vice President of External Alternative CMC Development at Boehringer Ingelheim, where she leads drug substance, drug product, and analytical development through strategic external partnerships. Dr. Kaul has played a critical role in delivering first‑in‑class and breakthrough therapies, including multiple oncology products and the world’s first FDA‑approved digital medicine. Known for her decisive leadership and execution focus, she bridges science, strategy, and operations to deliver scalable, regulator‑ready medicines worldwide.
Kristin	King Jankiewicz	Head, Group Management	Boston Harbor Angels	https://proventainternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/ristin-King-Jankiewicz.jpg	Kristin King-Jankiewicz brings 25 years life science operator and investor experience. She is Head of Group Management, Boston Harbor Angels, an investment group focusing on seed and early stage growth companies. Over the past 2 decades Boston Harbor Angels organization has cultivated a dynamic network of investors, industry experts, and most importantly their entrepreneurs fostering a network of visionaries and nurturing the growth of promising startups continuing our mission of investing for a better world.
Michal	Preminger	Stratetic Advisor	Jefferson Life Sciences	https://proventainternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Michal-Preminger.jpg
Neil	Kairen	Managing Director	Biotech Value Advisors	https://proventainternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Neil-Kairen.jpg
Nelly	Viseux	Vice President, Cell Therapies Development, Manufacturing, Supply & Quality	Regeneron	https://proventainternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Nelly-Viseux.jpg
Sean	Cumiskey	Head, Investor Relations	Omega Funds	https://proventainternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Sean-Cumiskey.jpg	Sean joined Omega Funds in 2024. Prior to joining Omega, Sean was a Partner and Chief Strategy Officer at Yiheng Capital Management, an Asia-focused alternative investment manager, where he implemented growth strategies that resulted in an increase of assets under management from an initial base of $350 million to over $3 billion at peak. Previously, Sean was a Director at Farallon Capital Management, with responsibility for new business development, product strategy and investor relations. Before Farallon, Sean was a Managing Director at York Capital Management, a global multi-asset alternative investment firm, where he directed key elements of the firm’s global investor relations efforts. Prior to York, Sean was on the Executive Committee at Ivy Asset Management, overseeing over $16 billion in global alternative investments. In previous years, Sean was Director of Portfolio Strategy at a Silicon Valley wealth management firm and Head of Investment Consulting at Montgomery Securities, a technology-focused investment bank. Sean received his BA from the University of California, Los Angeles, and MBA from Columbia Business School
Stephanie	Oestreich	Managing Director	Myeloma Investment Fund	https://proventainternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Stephanie-Oestreich.jpg
Tomasz	H. Zastawny,	Chief Executive Officer	Armora Biosciences	https://proventainternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Tomasz-H.-Zastawny.jpg	Tomasz H. Zastawny, PhD, DSc is a veteran life sciences executive with over 25 years of leadership in drug development, corporate strategy, and commercialization. Currently CEO of Armora Biosciences, he holds Board positions at PVR Clinical Research, TrialHer (AI-MedTech), and Auxilius Pharma.Dr. Zastawny specializes in capital-efficient strategies that accelerate assets from discovery to exit. He led the clinical operations and development teams responsible for the global marketing authorizations of TAZVERIK® (Epizyme), FOTIVDA® (Aveo Oncology), and Alluminox™ (Rakuten Medical). Today, he advises companies on leveraging AI, virtual models, and value-added regulatory pathways to de-risk development and maximize investor ROI.

Carolina Alarco, Claire Elizabeth Smith, Christina Ansted, Dong Xu, Farnaz Bakhshi, Gavin Loudfoot, Goldi Kaul, Kristin King Jankiewicz, Michal Preminger, Neil Kairen, Nelly Viseux, Sean Cumiskey, Stephanie Oestreich, Tomasz H. Zastawny, PhD, DSc

Our Past Facilitators

Our panel of facilitators plays a key role in shaping the agenda for the day. Whilst we’re busy connecting with the best industry experts, take a look at our facilitators.

Alex Zisson

Managing Director H.I.G. Capital

David Sherris

President and CEO Attivare Therapeutics

Christina Ansted

Senior Managing Partner RCP Venture Capital

Giovanni Abbadessa

Chief Medical Officer ModeX Therapeutics

Govinda Bhisetti

Vice President and Head of Computational Chemistry Cellarity

Huseyin Mehmet

Executive Director, New Ventures University of Massachusetts Medical School

Huseyin Mehmet is a drug hunter and research scientist with >35 years’ experience in basic and clinical academic research and in pharmaceutical / biotechnology drug discovery. He received his PhD from the Medical Research Council in the UJ and went on to work at University College London, the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (now Cancer Research UK), Cold Spring Harbor Lab, USA and then took a faculty position at Imperial College School of Medicine. There his work focused on cerebral hypoxic ischemic injury in neonates and he was part of the team that developed mild hypothermia for the treatment of birth asphyxia. In 2006 Huseyin left the UK to join Merck and Co, in the USA. He worked in biomarker discovery, target identification and several drug discovery programs up to clinical candidate selection. For the next few years, he took on roles with increasing responsibility in several biotech companies and also consulted for a number of start-up companies working with prominent VC firms (e.g. Atlas Ventures and Versant Ventures). Since 2021, Huseyin has led the New Ventures team in the BRIDGE Innovation and Business Development office at UMass Chan Medical School, where he is responsible for the scientific partnering of intellectual property arising from faculty discoveries.

Michael Janes

Co Founder – Chief Revenue Officer RCP Venture Capital

Mohamed Kassam

Head, Bioinformatics Zifo

Prateek Katti

Investor Newpath Partners

Our Agenda

Michelle Matzko,
Vice President, Senior Vice President of Clinical Development,
Ernexa Therapeutics

Dong Xu,
Former Associate Director, Head of Analytical Development for TCR-T Cell Therapy,
TScan Therapeutics

Private Equity, Venture Capital & Strategic Partnerships
How Private Equity and Venture Capital Are Shaping the Future of Biotech Investment Strategies Across the Full Drug Discovery and Development Spectrum

Farnaz Bakhshi,
Director, Innovation,
BrightEdge – American Cancer Society

Private Equity, Venture Capital & Strategic Partnerships
The Role of Machine Learning and AI-Powered Data Platforms in Shaping Future Investment Decisions and Portfolio Strategy

Private Equity, Venture Capital & Strategic Partnership
Emerging Modalities, Emerging Markets: Identifying High-Impact Investment Opportunities in Cutting-Edge Biotech

Claire Smith,
Partner,
Springtide Ventures

Private Equity, Venture Capital & Strategic Partnerships
Building Capital-Efficient Biotech: Leveraging AI & Virtual Models to Replace Infrastructure

Tomasz Zastawny,
Chief Executive Officer,
Armora Biosciences

Private Equity, Venture Capital & Strategic Partnerships
Pre-Commercial Readiness as the New Gatekeeper of Capital in Biotech: How early commercial strategy is reshaping valuation, partnership, and financing decisions

Chairperson: Christina Ansted,
Senior Managing Partner,
RCP Venture Capital

PANELIST: Michal Preminger,
Stratetic Advisor,
Jefferson Life Sciences

PANELIST: Carolina Alarco,
Founder and Principal,
Bio Strategy Advisors

PANELIST: Neil Kairen,
Managing Director,
Biotech Value Advisors

Private Equity, Venture Capital & Strategic Partnerships

Chairperson: Goldi Kaul,
Vice President, Head of External Alternative CMC Development,
Boehringer Ingelheim

Private Equity, Venture Capital & Strategic Partnerships
Is Private Equity Quietly Becoming the Dominant Force in Life Sciences?
Sean Cumiskey,
Head, Investor Relations,
Omega Funds

Private Equity, Venture Capital & Strategic Partnerships
Is Private Equity Quietly Becoming the Dominant Force in Life Sciences?

Private Equity, Venture Capital & Strategic Partnerships
Portfolio Value Creation Beyond the Check: How Life Sciences VCs Drive Pre-Inflection Success?

Gavin Loudfoot,
Vice President, Business Development,
BV Investment Partners

Private Equity, Venture Capital & Strategic Partnerships
Biotech Funding: How are Investors Pacing Capital amid Longer Timelines?

Kristin King-Jankiewicz,
Head, Group Management,
Boston Harbor Angels

Private Equity, Venture Capital & Strategic Partnerships
CMC Is Now a Board-Level Risk Category. Are We Ready to Lead at That Level?

MODERATOR: Nelly Viseux,
Vice President, Cell Therapies Development, Manufacturing, Supply & Quality,
Regeneron

Further Information

Interested in attending this virtual roundtable or running your own? Drop us a message today and we will get in touch

Here To Help

Need help registering your team? Just get in touch and a member of the team will be happy to help.

Europe

USA East

USA West

Webinars

Europe

R&D

Investment Dinners & Spotlights

Venture Capital & Private Equity

Venture Capital & Private Equity Boston

<img class="lazy" decoding="async" src="data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%2012%2016'%3E%3C/svg%3E" data-src="https://proventainternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/location.png" >Le Meridien Cambridge Boston

Timely information, interactive format

Our Facilitators

Carolina Alarco

Claire Elizabeth Smith

Christina Ansted

Dong Xu

Farnaz Bakhshi

Gavin Loudfoot

Goldi Kaul

Kristin King Jankiewicz

Michal Preminger

Neil Kairen

Nelly Viseux

Sean Cumiskey

Stephanie Oestreich

Tomasz H. Zastawny, PhD, DSc

Our Past Facilitators

Alex Zisson

David Sherris

Christina Ansted

Giovanni Abbadessa

Govinda Bhisetti

Huseyin Mehmet

Michael Janes

Mohamed Kassam

Prateek Katti

Our Agenda

Day 1 : 18th of May, 2026

Registration And Welcome

Opening Keynote Presentation

Roundtable Roundtable Tracks

Refreshment Break

Networking / 1-1 Meetings

Roundtable Roundtable Tracks

Roundtable Roundtable Tracks

Networking Lunch

Networking / 1-1 Meetings

Networking / 1-1 Meetings

Afternoon Keynote Presentation Revvity Signals

Roundtable Roundtable Tracks

Afternoon Refreshment Break

PANEL DISCUSSION

Drinks & Canapes Reception

Day 2 : 19th of May, 2026

Registration And Welcome

Opening Keynote Presentation Hernexeos® as a catalyst: The EACD Model in Action

Roundtable Is Private Equity Quietly Becoming the Dominant Force in Life Sciences?

Refreshment Break

Networking / 1-1 Meetings

Roundtable Roundtable Tracks

Roundtable Roundtable Tracks

Networking Lunch

Networking / 1-1 Meetings

Networking / 1-1 Meetings

Afternoon Keynote Presentation

Roundtable Roundtable Tracks

Afternoon Refreshment Break

PANEL DISCUSSION CMC Is Now a Board-Level Risk Category. Are We Ready to Lead at That Level?

Drinks & Canapes Reception

Further Information

Here To Help

Select days you wish to attend You can add multiple days

VAT Excluded

Select days you wish to attend You can add multiple days

Pass includes:

VAT Excluded

About You

Your Address

About Your Company

This is required field*

Le Meridien Cambridge Boston