Sonoma Biotherapeutics – a West Coast based company developing regulatory T-Cell (Treg) therapies for autoimmune and degenerative diseases - has hired Tamara Fountain as VP of Human Resources. Prior to joining Sonoma Therapeutics, Tamara Fountain worked at Gilead as the Global Head of Employee Relations for an organization of 12,000 people in locations around the world. She served as the strategic advisor to executives and senior leaders across HR, Commercial, Public Affairs, IT, Facilities, Finance and Legal on complex issues ranging from leadership development, training, reorganizations, and discipline. Her professional career includes experience at Microsoft and other Fortune 500 companies. She was an attorney specializing in labor and employment and complex litigation at Lane Powell PC. She earned her JD degree from Cornell Law School.

The search was successfully led by both Tamir Halaban from Westwood & Wilshire’s Life Sciences practice and Kristin Speer from Westwood & Wilshire’s G&A practice. 

Agios – a Cambridge-based pharmaceutical company invested in the therapeutics area of oncology – has hired Vanessa Beynon as Medical Director, Clinical Development. Dr. Beynon joins Agios from Biogen, where she served in a similar capacity as Medical Director, Clinical Development. Dr. Beynon also works as a Neurologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and lectures at Harvard University. 

The search was successfully led by Andrea Tegstam for Westwood & Wilshire’s Advanced Technology practice.

Riffyn is a cloud-based, SaaS and Solutions provider of scientific and manufacturing process design and data analytics to the biopharmaceutical, industrial biotech, and materials industries.

On a mission to make machine learning in science an everyday reality by defragmenting scientific data and processes, Riffyn has hired Stephanie Yeung as Director of Marketing. Dr. Yeung joins Riffyn from S2 Genomics, where she served as Sr. Director of Marketing. She completed a PhD program in BioEngineering at UC Berkeley. She also founded her own start up, MADEIRA.

Magenta Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing therapeutics that unlock the power of stem cell biology, has hired Dr. Kevin Johnson as the new Senior Vice President, Head of Regulatory and Quality. Dr. Johnson joins Magenta Therapeutics from Imara Inc. where he held a similar position as Senior Vice President of Global Regulatory Affairs and Quality. Prior to Imara, Dr. Johnson worked in a similar role at Sucampo Pharmaceuticals and Vtesse.

The search was successfully led by Julie McDonald for Westwood & Wilshire’s Life Sciences practice.

BioMarin, a biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing innovative biopharmaceuticals for rare diseases, has hired Chieze Ibeneche-Nnewihe as the new Director of Business Development. Dr. Ibeneche-Nnewihe joins BioMarin from RA Capital Management, where she previously held progressively increasing levels of responsibility.

The search was successfully led by Chris Tillman for Westwood & Wilshire’s Life Sciences practice.

miRagen Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapies, has hired Lee Rauch as the new Chief Operating Officer. Rauch joins miRagen from Columbia Technology Ventures, where she served as the Executive in Residence. Prior to Columbia Tech Ventures, Rauch served as Managing Director at Cervantes Life Science Partners. 

The search was successfully led by Michael Cane for Westwood & Wilshire’s Life Sciences practice.

Eidos Therapeutics, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on addressing the large and growing unmet need in diseases caused by transthyretin, has hired Rebecca Vanlandingham as Executive Medical Director. Dr. Vanlandingham  joins Eidos from Teva Pharmaceuticals, where she served in a similar capacity as Director of Clinical Development. Prior to Teva, Dr. Vanlandingham led her own private practice as an Immunologist. 

The search was successfully led by Gerard Danishek for Westwood & Wilshire’s Life Sciences practice.

Intermedia, a leading Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) and business cloud applications provider delivering easy-to-use and secure communication and collaboration solutions, has hired Angela Crissey as Human Resources Business Partner. Angela joins Intermedia from FireEye, where she served as Associate HR Business Partner - IT, Security & Operations. She holds a Bachelors in Sociology & Organizational Studies from University of California Davis and has worked with leadership teams in human resources administration and operations at Fireye, Synopsys and Codenomicon.

The search was successfully led by Laura Wilson for Westwood & Wilshire’s Advanced Technology practice.

Riffyn is a cloud-based, SaaS and Solutions provider of scientific and manufacturing process design and data analytics to the biopharmaceutical, industrial biotech, and materials industries.

On a mission to make machine learning in science an everyday reality by defragmenting scientific data and processes, Riffyn has hired Jan Schiffman as VP of Engineering. Jan joins Riffyn from TIBCO, where he served as Vice President Engineering, Data Science Products. He studied Computer Science at Rutgers University and has a distinguished career of more than 20 years of engineering and IT leadership in VP and CTO roles at Intersoft, Lehman Brothers, Monolith Software, Jaspersoft, Joscience and TIBCO, as well as founding his own start up, Predictium.

Agios – a Massachusetts based pharmaceutical company invested in the therapeutics area of oncology – has hired Dr. Jaime Morales as the new Head of Medical Affairs, Rare Genetic Diseases. Prior to joining Agios, Dr. Morales served in a similar capacity as Sanofi’s Head of Global Medical Affairs for Complement Disorders and was part of the medical leadership team at Bioverativ.

The search was successfully led by Khusbu Talati for Westwood & Wilshire’s Life Science’s practice.

Takeda Pharmaceuticals – among the top pharmaceutical companies in the world and one of the fastest growing with a U.S. Hub in Massachusetts that includes the operational center for Takeda’s Global Vaccines Business Unit - has hired Ana Sharma as the new Vice President of Head of Clinical Quality Assurance. Prior to joining Takeda, Sharma held similar leadership role at Novartis for 9 years and at Amgen for 5 years.

The search was successfully led by Chris Tillman for Westwood & Wilshire’s Life Science’s practice.

Pliant Therapeutics – a clinical stage biopharma company focused on unraveling and targeting the key biological pathways driving fibrosis – has hired Dr. Michael Holfinger as the new Vice President of CMC. Prior to joining Pliant, Dr. Holfinger served in a similar capacity at Allergan Research Corporation and he previously held leadership roles with progressively increasing levels of responsibility at Affymax and Pfizer. Dr. Holfinger has also obtained at PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin Madison.

The search was successfully led by Chris Tillman for Westwood & Wilshire’s Life Science’s practice.

Exagen Diagnostics Inc. – a life sciences company working to aid providers in the proper diagnosis, prognosis, and management of autoimmune conditions – has hired Dr. Debra Zack as the new Chief Medical Officer. Prior to joining Exagen, Dr. Zack served as VP of Clinical Development at Xencor and previously held leadership roles at Novartis Biotherapeutics and Amgen.  After obtaining her MD/PhD in Immunology Medicine, Dr. Zack also served as an Associate Professor of Medicine at UCLA Medical School. 

The search was successfully led by Julie McDonald for Westwood & Wilshire’s Life Science’s practice.

Savonix, a ground-breaking health technology innovator delivering a fully mobile, accurate, accessible and affordable tool for professional cognitive screening, has hired Andrew Pashman as Vice President of Global Sales based in San Francisco. Andrew previously held VP Sales roles at Medicity (acquired by Aetna) and BetterDoctor (acquired by Quest Analytics) as well as with Citi Group, as SVP of Payer and Provider Solutions. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business from Ithaca College and Executive Sales Management from Columbia University (Executive Program).

The search was successfully led by Andrea Tegstam for Westwood & Wilshire’s Advanced Technology practice.

Astex Therapeutics – a research and drug development biotech company focusing on discovering innovative solutions in oncology and CNS disorders – has hired Dr. Jason Taylor as the new Sr. Director of Clinical Research and Medical Monitoring.  Dr. Taylor was hired from CTI BioPharma where he served as an Associate Director of late phase programs.  Prior to, he was Associate Professor for twelve years at The Hemophilia Center at OHSU.  Dr. Taylor received an MD/PhD from UC Irvine, where he specialized in oncology and internal medicine. 

The search was successfully led by Gerard Danishek for Westwood & Wilshire’s Life Sciences practice.

Foundation Medicine -  a molecular insights company leveraging its next-generation genomic sequencing technology to target and treat solid tumors, hematologic malignances and sarcomas – has hired Dr. Ashley Ward as the new Senior Director of Clinical Development. Dr. Ward has joined from the FDA, where she had increasing levels of responsibility within the Oncology division. She has also developed industry experience during her time at Genetech. Dr. Ward has obtained her MD from Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine and her fellowship in Pediatric Hematology/ Oncology from UC San Francisco.

The search was successfully led by Gerard Danishek for Westwood & Wilshire’s Life Sciences practice.

Calico Labs – a Google-backed R&D biotech company that focuses on combating aging and associated diseases – has hired Dr. Joanne Lancaster as their new Head, Program Team Leader. Dr. Lancaster was hired from Eli Lilly and Company where she has worked for the past 21 years. She has served in a similar capacity in her latest role at Eli Lilly as the Senior Advisor and Leader of Clinical Pharmacology. Dr. Lancaster has received her PhD in Immunology from Washington University in St. Louis.

The search was successfully led by Christopher Tillman for Westwood & Wilshire’s Life Sciences practice.

Flywire Acquires Simplee to Transform Healthcare Payments Experience

Acceleron, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapeutics to treat serious and rare diseases, has hired Dr. Debashish Dey as the new Vice President of Pharmacovigilance. Dr. Dey has joined Acceleron from AveXis, Inc. where he served as the Vice President and Head of Global Patient Safety. Dr. Dey has a distinguished career starting in 2002 in Sweden first with AstraZeneca then Novartis as an epidemiologist before joining Eli Lilly in 2007 as a Medical Advisor. At Lilly, Dr. Dey took positions of increasing responsibility over 9-years, becoming Global Head of Patient Safety for multiple therapeutic areas by 2014. In addition, to Eli Lilly, Dr. Dey was the Global Head of Hematology Global Drug Safety at Shire. He is an MD PhD in Geriatric Medicine and has an MPH in Epidemiology.

The search was successfully led by Gerard Danishek for Westwood & Wilshire’s Life Sciences practice.

At Westwood & Wilshire, we recognize that people are an organization's top asset. We are passionate about delivering premier talent to the world’s most innovative companies. We are particularly focused on companies ranging from VC-backed start-ups to mid-sized commercial entities and our assignments range from C-Suite to mid-management. Our firm has offices in Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, and Seattle, serving clients on a local, national and global basis.

Super, a home services innovator that is shaking up the home warranty industry with transparent, comprehensive home maintenance and repairs that can be managed digitally, has hired Nilanshu Raja as Chief Financial Officer. Nilanshu joins Super from Kidaptive, where he served as Senior Vice President, Finance & Operations. He holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Denver and has a distinguished career of more than 15 years of finance and operations leadership at Cylink, Microsoft, Anjan Group and Kidaptive, as well as founding his own start up, MediCorp (acquired).

The search was successfully led by Laura Wilson for Westwood & Wilshire’s Advanced Technology practice.