About Rallybio

Amanda Hayward, PhD

Amanda has 20 years of biopharmaceutical industry experience, specifically in venture capital, portfolio management, business development, and licensing transactions. Most recently, she served as Managing Director of Venture Investments for Connecticut Innovations, and is Chairman of Hoba Therapeutics. She has also played a significant role in founding and growing multiple companies.

Amanda earned her PhD in Cell Biology and Anatomy from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale.

Ann Willauer

Ann has more than 24 years of experience in drug discovery, development and project management expertise, including leadership positions at Inozyme Pharma and Alexion Pharmaceuticals. Ann has also held senior positions with increasing responsibility in project, portfolio management and therapeutic area strategy at Bristol Myers-Squibb and Pfizer, driving the delivery of medicines in all phases of development across a range of therapeutic areas.  Ann is a Certified Project Management Professional.  She received her M.A. in molecular biology and biochemistry from Wesleyan University. She also holds a B.S. in biology and a B.A. in chemistry from Providence College.

Carrie White

Carrie has a proven track record of leading and managing venture capital investments and strategic initiatives in the bioscience industry. She has held various positions with increasing responsibility for Connecticut Innovations, most recently leading or supporting 27 early-stage bioscience venture capital investment deals totaling more than $21M. Previously, Carrie worked for Pfizer specializing in clinical data management, before transitioning into a business operations role where she managed the budget development and reporting process for the statistical programming and medical writing departments. Carrie has also achieved her Six Sigma Green Belt. She received her MBA from Northeastern University and holds a B.S. in Public Administration from the University of Arizona.

Dominic Carrano CPA, MSA

Dominic is a Certified Public Accountant with more than 10 years of experience managing areas of technical accounting and financial reporting. Prior to joining Rallybio, he served in roles of increasing responsibility at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, most recently as Associate Director of Technical Accounting.  In this role he oversaw the implementation of new accounting standards, technical accounting assessments, forecasting and modeling, external reporting disclosures, and lent his expertise in these areas to various strategic projects. Dominic began his accounting career at Deloitte & Touche.

Dominic earned his Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in accounting from the University of Connecticut.

Douglas Sheridan, PhD

Doug has more than 20 years of R&D experience, both academically and professionally. He is a co-inventor of five clinical drug candidates, including an orphan drug approved by the FDA in 2018. Prior to joining Rallybio, Doug served as Executive Director, Global Program Team Leader at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, where he led the cross-functional development teams responsible for the strategy, budget and operational activities required to launch two global development programs. Doug earned his PhD in Neuroscience from Yale University. He also holds a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Pennsylvania State University.

Eric Watsky, MD

Having held executive positions in pharmaceutical research and development, Eric also has extensive experience in patient care and academic research.  Prior to joining Rallybio, Eric served as Vice President, Global Development Team Leader for Alexion Pharmaceuticals, and Executive Director in Pfizer’s Specialty Care Business Unit focused on rare disease indications.  He was also Senior Staff Research Fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health.  Eric received his MD from Boston University and has taught at the medical schools of Harvard, where he was Chief Resident in Psychopharmacology, and George Washington University.

Haren Vasavada, PhD

Dr. Vasavada has more than 25 years of experience as a scientist, manager, and R&D leadership team member in the areas of biopharmaceuticals, small molecule therapeutics, and research technologies. Prior to joining Rallybio, he served as the Head of New Targets and Therapeutics at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, and Vice President, Process Science at Optherion, Inc. He began his career in the biopharmaceutical industry at Bayer, Inc., where he rose to the position of Director of Research, Department of Research Technologies, advancing a both small molecule and biologic drug candidates into product development. Before his industry career, Dr. Vasavada was an associate research scientist in Yale University’s Department of Human Genetics. He received his PhD from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore and did his postdoctoral work at Yale University.

Jackie Schumacher

Jackie has more than 30 years of diverse experience in global regulatory affairs, development, commercialization and portfolio management from initial clinical investigation through registration. Prior to joining Rallybio, Jackie served as Vice President of Regulatory and Quality at Lyndra Therapeutics where she was responsible for regulatory strategy and operations and for overseeing the Company’s global GxP quality strategy and Quality Management System. Previously, she spent more than two decades in pharmaceutical sciences within Pfizer, starting as an analytical chemist followed by a long tenure within the Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC) regulatory organization. During her time at Pfizer, she developed and led successful global CMC registration strategies for new small molecules, product enhancements, and combination products, held regulatory leadership positions within the nascent Established Products Sterile Injectables organization and was responsible for helping to optimize the value of the company’s 600+ established molecule portfolio. She is currently on the board of directors for Women in the Enterprise of Science and Technology (WEST), a non-profit dedicated to the advancement of women in science, technology, and engineering. Jackie received a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry and classical studies from Hamilton College.

Jeffrey Fryer, CPA

Jeff is a co-founder of Rallybio and has more than 25 years of experience in business finance and the economics of operations, as well as corporate strategy and taxation.  He has held leadership roles at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Chemtura Corporation, and Lydall, and began his career in public accounting with PricewaterhouseCoopers.  He earned a Master of Science in taxation from the University of Hartford and a Bachelor of Science in business administration with a concentration in accounting from Bryant University.  He is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for the Bryant University School of Business.

Laura Ekas, PhD

Laura has more than 10 years of experience in the biotech industry. Her broad background includes experience in global pricing and reimbursement, corporate operations and investor relations at Alexion Pharmaceuticals. Prior to her time at Alexion, Laura spent time in healthcare strategy consulting and also held positions of increasing responsibility at Canaccord Genuity Group, including Vice President, Biotech Equity Research. She has a PhD in pharmacology and signal transduction from New York University, School of Medicine and a B.A. in behavioral biology from Johns Hopkins University.

Lisa Sinclair

Lisa has more than 20 years of biopharmaceutical experience, specializing in new product development and portfolio management to drive delivery of transformative medicines. Prior to this, Lisa served as the Head of Program and Alliance Management for SpringWorks Therapeutics where she led operational planning, lifecycle strategies and alliance collaborations to advance life-changing medicines in cancer and severe rare diseases. She also served as VP of R&D Strategy, Portfolio and Project Management at Alexion and led generation of the long-term R&D strategy and new product assessments that informed resource allocation and acceleration of rare disease medicines. Lisa also previously served as VP of Global R&D Portfolio and Performance for AstraZeneca, where she created new capabilities in portfolio analysis and management that increased pipeline productivity and portfolio value. Earlier in her career, Lisa worked for 18 years at Pfizer in various roles of increasing responsibility. Lisa received a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from the University of Vermont.

Martin Mackay, PhD

Martin is a co-founder of Rallybio, and has worked in pharmaceutical and biotech R&D for more than 30 years, holding leadership roles at companies including Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) and Alexion.  Martin obtained a First Class Honours Degree in microbiology from Heriot-Watt University and his PhD in molecular genetics from the University of Edinburgh. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Charles River Laboratories (NYSE: CRL) and Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NOVO), and is a Senior Advisor at New Leaf Ventures.  Martin summarizes the three loves in his life as being family, work, and soccer, but not necessarily in that order.

Michael Greco, JD

Mike has more than 20 years of legal and business experience, including in private practice and as a member of life science leadership and executive management teams. Prior to joining Rallybio, Mike served as General Counsel and Secretary for SpringWorks Therapeutics where he helped facilitate the successful implementation of the company’s IPO, among other milestones and accomplishments. Previously, he held leadership roles at Alexion Pharmaceuticals where he assumed positions of increasing responsibility in the company’s legal department, oversaw corporate governance initiatives, public reporting and securities compliance and corporate transactions. He was also responsible for managing the legal department’s corporate, R&D, business development and employment law legal teams. Prior to Alexion, Mike was a corporate attorney at Wiggin and Dana LLP and Bingham McCutchen LLP (now Morgan Lewis).

Mike served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and received a JD from Suffolk University Law School and a B.S. from the United States Military Academy, West Point.

Michael Sullivan, MBA, PMP

Michael has more than 20 years of biopharmaceutical experience, with expertise in project and portfolio management. Mike has been focused on driving R&D programs through all stages of development as well as improving operational performance of various R&D functions. Prior to joining Rallybio and most recently, he served as Senior Director of Drug Safety Operational Performance and Excellence at Alexion Pharmaceuticals where he led critical and transformative programs across the company’s pharmacovigilance organization. He also held positions of increasing responsibilities in R&D strategy, portfolio and project management at Alexion and Pfizer.

Michael is a Certified Project Management Professional. He earned his MBA from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management and holds a B.S. in industrial engineering from Iowa State University.

Rachael Alford, PhD

Rachael has more than 15 years of biopharmaceutical industry experience in all aspects of technical operations. Most recently, she served as Vice President of Global Process Development at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, where she led biologic and small molecule development, early and late stage process development, analytical and formulation development, tech transfer, regulatory submissions and life cycle management. 

Rachael earned both her B.Sc. in Chemistry and PhD in Biophysical Chemistry from Imperial College, London, and was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Yale University.

Róisín Armstrong, PhD

Róisín has over 25 years of biopharmaceutical industry experience, specifically in advancing products through the development continuum to commercialization. Most recently, she served as Vice President and Global Medicine Team leader at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, where she led teams in the development and registration of new treatments for rare and ultra-rare neurology indications. In 2019, Róisín was the recipient of an HBA Luminary Award by the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association. Prior to Alexion, Róisín worked with Pfizer in the UK and the US in various roles of increasing responsibility, including early and late-stage Development Portfolio Operations and global clinical leadership roles in different therapeutic areas. 

Róisín received her PhD in Neuropharmacology from the University of Wales, College of Cardiff, having previously obtained a BSc in Pharmacy from DeMonfort University in Leicester, UK.

Steve Ryder, MD

Steve has more than 30 years of leadership experience in global healthcare development and a proven track record in the rare disorders space. Prior to joining Rallybio, Steve served as Senior Vice President, Chief Development Officer at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, where he led the global development, registration, and approval of new drug candidates for rare diseases, and contributed to the overall growth of the company. Previously, he was founding President, Astellas Pharma Global Development, and spent 21 years in development at Pfizer. Steve received his MD from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Steve Uden, MD

Steve is a co-founder of Rallybio. He has more than 25 years of experience, serving in R&D leadership roles with prominent global pharmaceutical and biotech firms.  Steve was previously head of research at Alexion Pharmaceuticals where he led a series of collaborations and external alliances, expanded its research base beyond antibodies to include small molecules, RNA-based therapies and broader protein engineering capabilities.  Prior to Alexion, Steve led research and development groups in Japan for Wyeth and Novartis Oncology, and held positions of increasing responsibility at Pfizer in the U.K., Japan, and the U.S. Steve received his medical training at the University of London’s St. Thomas’ Hospital Medical School, and then practiced clinical and academic medicine within the U.K. National Health Service and the University of Manchester U.K.

Zubin Bhagwagar, MD, PhD

Zubin is a physician scientist with more than 25 years of experience in academia and the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Rallybio, Zubin was Vice President External Innovation at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, and led the Strategic Evaluation team in Business Development. He previously held positions of increasing responsibility at Bristol-Myers Squibb, where he worked in multiple therapeutic areas including neuroscience and clinical pharmacology. Zubin received his medical degree and completed his first psychiatry residency at Delhi University; he subsequently completed clinical training in psychiatry and neuroscience at the University of Oxford, where he was awarded a D.Phil (PhD) in neuroimaging and neurobiology. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, U.K., has authored more than 80 papers in neuroscience/psychiatry and has been on the faculty at the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine since 2005, where he is an Adjunct Associate Professor.

Zhiyao Lu, PhD

Yao was trained as a scientist with expertise in chemistry and pharmaceutical sciences. Before joining Rallybio, Yao was a Fellow at the Blavatnik Fund for Innovation at Yale, where he assessed early-stage life-science opportunities and helped with company formation. Prior to that, he served as the co-founder and CTO of Catapower Inc., a seed-stage company developing and commercializing technologies for anti-microbial materials. Yao began his career at Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, where he identified and evaluated new business development opportunities.

He received his B.S. in pharmacy and M.S. in medicinal chemistry from Peking University and earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Southern California.