Jeff is an accomplished operations and business development executive with over twenty years’ expertise building and leading BD and G&A functions within biotech and pharmaceutical companies. He is a member of the founding team of Semma Therapeutics, a cell therapy company created to develop a functional cure for type 1 diabetes. As VP of Operations and Alliances, Jeff created, built and led the Alliances, HR, Research Operations, Finance, Communications, and IT functions. Semma was acquired by Vertex Pharmaceuticals in 2019 for $1B. At Vertex, Jeff led and integrated the Alliances, Research Operations and IT functions into the newly formed Vertex Cell and Genetic Therapies (VCGT). Prior to that, Jeff created and led the Operational Alliances group at Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR). The group was responsible for Alliance Management of all major collaborative research alliances within NIBR, as well as for implementing all collaborative scientific relationships that supported NIBR’s internal research programs. The effort won an Operational Excellence award for comprehensive redesign of all internal business processes relating to collaborative research contracts. Prior to joining Novartis, Jeff was a bench scientist at various Boston biotechs. He holds an MBA from the F. W. Olin School of Business at Babson College, as well as a Master of Science in Molecular Genetics from the University of New Hampshire.