Scientific Co-Founder

Eric Adler, MD, is a Scientific Co-Founder of Papillon Therapeutics. Dr. Adler is a Professor of Medicine with Endowed Chair, Head of the Heart Failure Section, and Director of the Strauss Center for Cardiomyopathy at University of California, San Diego. He is a pioneer in cardiovascular gene therapy, with over 100 peer-reviewed publications and an ongoing Phase 1 investigational gene therapy for Danon disease. Dr. Adler serves as scientifc advisor to Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Sana Biotechnology, and as CSO at Lexeo Therapeutics. Dr. Adler earned his medical degree from the Boston University School of Medicine.

Scientific Co-Founder

Stephanie Cherqui, PhD, is a Scientific Co-Founder of Papillon Therapeutics. Dr. Cherqui is Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). She is Chair of the Cystinosis Stem Cell and Gene Therapy Consortium; Member of the Scientific Review Board of the Cystinosis Research Foundation; and Scientific Council Member for the Cure Cystinosis International Registry. Dr. Cherqui’s lab has received over $30 million in funding from the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) and NIH towards development of multi-systemic HSPC therapies. Dr. Cherqui earned her Ph.D from the University Rene Descartes.

CEO

Carter Cliff is CEO of Papillon Therapeutics. He has raised over $250 Million as co-founder and executive of biotechnology companies developing disease-modifying genetic medicines, including Opsis Therapeutics and Kenai Therapeutics. Opsis entered a Strategic R&D Alliance with BlueRock Therapeutics (a Bayer AG company), who provided a $70 Million up-front commitment for option to three programs. Kenai raised an $83 Million Series A financing co-led by Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, Cure Ventures and The Column Group, with participation from Euclidean Capital and Saisei Ventures.

Head of R&D

Colin Exline, PhD, is Head of R&D at Papillon Therapeutics. Dr. Exline has been leading gene editing projects in immune cell subsets for over a decade. His work advanced zinc finger nuclease editing in HSPC towards IND and created methods to enhance DNA modification after nuclease editing in HSPC. He more recently led a molecular biology team at Lung Biotechnology focused on regulating immune responses to organ transplantation and creation of iPSC for regenerative medicine. Dr. Exline received his PhD from the University of Iowa in Microbiology studying mRNA splicing during HIV infection.

Director

Michael Goldstein is a Director of Papillon Therapeutics. Previously he was a co-founder of Avego Healthcare Capital and has extensive experience in rare disease drug development and commercialization. He has been involved both as an investor and executive in multiple biotechnology companies, including Vidara Therapeutics (merged with Horizon Therapeutics for $660 million), Sentynl Therapeutics (acquired by Zydus Life Sciences), Saol Therapeutics, Sebela Pharmaceuticals, NF2 Therapeutics and Sonalasense Inc.

Co-Founder & President

Jeffrey Ostrove, PhD, is a Co-Founder & President of Papillon Therapeutics. Dr. Ostrove has served as CEO of multiple biotechnology companies including Locana Bio (raised $55 million Series A), Stelios (sold to Lexeo), AbVitro (sold to Juno Therapeutics for $125 million), of Ceregene (sold to Sangamo). He has served as Director of ViGene (sold to CRL for $292 million), as COO of NeuroVir (sold to Medigene), and as Co-Founder of Magenta CDMO (spun-out of BioReliance). Dr. Ostrove earned his PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Florida College of Medicine and has served on the staff of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Scientific Co-Founder

Farah Sheikh, PhD, is a Scientific Co-Founder of Papillon Therapeutics. Dr. Sheikh is Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. Her research focus lies in identifying the pathways underlying biomechanical stress responses in the heart, which play a central role in the pathophysiology of cardiac disease and arrhythmias which impact many inherited conditions. Dr. Sheikh recieved the E.L. Drewry Award; Laverna Titus Young Investigator Award from the American Heart Association (AHA); and the UCSD Schulman Award. Dr. Sheikh earned her PhD in Cardiovascular Physiology from the University of Manitoba.