Prologue

Lovisa Afzelius is an origination partner at Flagship Pioneering. A computational scientist by training, she brings to Flagship two decades of leadership experience and a passion for data-driven drug discovery. Lovisa has served as CEO, co-founder, president, board chairman, and executive director, in emerging biotech and large pharma companies. She joined Flagship in early 2020, leading innovation as founding CEO of Alltrna as well as co-founder and CEO of Apriori Bio, Metaphore Biotechnologies, and Prologue Medicines.

Previously, Lovisa built and led Pfizer’s systems immunology function and served as executive director of clinical programs. In this role, she launched several Phase II studies across autoimmune indications and as a member of the Inflammation & Immunology Research Unit leadership team, Lovisa co-managed the portfolio from early target discovery to Phase II clinical trials across all immunological assets. In addition, she served on Pfizer’s Worldwide R&D Data Strategy Committee.

In 2017, Lovisa co-founded Elsa.science, a digital health company in the rheumatoid arthritis space where she serves as a board member. She also serves on the board of the Swedish New England Chamber of Commerce. Before moving to the US in 2013, Lovisa was CEO of BioChromix Pharma. She began her career at AstraZeneca as Project Director, Global In Vitro Metabolism Leader and Computational Chemist across cardiovascular, metabolic, and neurodegenerative diseases.

Lovisa has received numerous accolades for her work: In 2022, she was named one of the Top Women in Biopharma by Endpoints. She was included in the top 100 “most influential persons under age 40 in Sweden” by Affärsvärlden, and awarded “scientist of tomorrow” at the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations’ 30th anniversary. Lovisa received the Rosenön Award for best thesis of the year within the field of pharmacodynamics/pharmacokinetics in Sweden.

Lovisa holds a PhD in computational chemistry from Uppsala University, a Master of Science in integrative pharmacology from Gothenburg University as well as an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Theonie Anastassiadis, Ph.D., joined Flagship Pioneering in 2018 after completing the firm’s Flagship Pioneering Fellowship. Theonie works as part of a venture-creation team to develop the science, intellectual property, and business strategy to found and grow Flagship’s next breakthrough startups. She is a co-Founder and member of the founding team of the tRNA platform company Alltrna where she also serves as Chief Innovation Officer.

Before joining Flagship, Theonie received her Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology with a focus in Cancer Biology from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research on replication fork dynamics in the context of cancer development and therapeutics was supported through multiple fellowships, including a 4-year NIH F31 NRSA Predoctoral Fellowship. Theonie also completed a Wharton Business Foundations Specialization and holds a B.S. in biology with honors from Haverford College.

Theonie’s work has resulted in multiple patents and publications, including articles in Nature Biotechnology, Molecular Cell, and Journal of Biological Chemistry. She was honored in 2022 in Endpoints News' 20 under 40 list of the next generation of biotech leaders and in Boston Business Journal' 40 under 40 list for successful professionals giving back to their community. She is a Business Advisory Board member of the Harvard Institute for RNA Medicine and a member of the Bioscience & Investor Inclusion Group (BIIG) Diverse Talent Network Group.

Hozefa Bandukwala is Vice President and Science Partner at Flagship Pioneering and currently serves as founding chief scientific officer of Prologue Medicines, in addition to interim chief scientific officer at Apriori Bio. Prior to joining Flagship, he served as vice president of platform biology at Sigilon Therapeutics. Prior to that, he was the senior director and head of discovery biology at Rheos Medicines. Before Rheos, Hozefa served as head of the immunometabolism laboratory at Pfizer where he pioneered novel target discovery in the field of immunometabolism. Hozefa earned a BS in biotechnology from the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay and a PhD in immunology from University of Chicago. His postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University focused on epigenetic and metabolic regulation of T cell functions.

Nirmal Keshava is a data science and AI innovator, leader, and executive with over 20 years of experience across multiple industries building, leading, and collaborating with external partners to address ambitious and innovative challenges involving data, science, medicine, and business. Most recently, he was the Vice President of Data Science and Innovation at Cerevel Therapeutics, where he built a cross-disciplinary team that introduced novel data-centric approaches and technologies into all parts of the drug discovery and development continuum, including visualization, deep learning, generative AI, imaging, outcomes modeling, and strategic decision making. Before that, he was the Head of Artificial Intelligence at BioXcel Therapeutics and was a Senior Principal Informatics Scientist at AstraZeneca. Preceding his career in the pharmaceutical industry, he spent 15 years leading government and industry-sponsored research at MIT Lincoln Laboratory and the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory. Before that he worked as a telecommunications system engineer at Bell Communications Research. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in electrical engineering, respectively, from UCLA, Purdue University, and Carnegie Mellon University. He has several journal and conference publications and patents in the data science and AI space. He has been recognized by the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the National Science Foundation, and the National Academy of Engineering.

Angela Norton serves as Vice President and Head of Platform at Prologue Medicines. Angela brings over 20 years of biologics drug development and leadership experience from both large and small companies focused on research in rare diseases, oncology and autoimmune disorders. Most recently, Angela was Vice President of R&D at Dianthus Therapeutics. Prior to that, Angela served as Vice President of R&D and Head of Research at DynamiCure Biotechnology, an immuno-oncology and autoimmune focused company. In this role, Angela built a strong research team and drove the strategic focus of the pipeline as Chair of the Pipeline Steering Committee. Prior to DynamiCure Angela held multiple positions of increasing levels of responsibility at Shire Pharmaceuticals, culminating with the role of Senior Director, Head of Protein and Antibody Engineering. In this role she and her team were responsible for all of the Biologics Research Programs globally for Shire. Prior to working at Shire Pharmaceuticals, Angela initiated her career at Transkaryotic Therapies, which was eventually purchased by Shire. Angela earned her doctorate in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of New Hampshire.

Rakesh serves as Vice President and Head of Biology at Prologue, and brings extensive expertise in immuno-oncology drug development, cytokine therapies, and cell therapies, including TILs and CAR-T. His wide-ranging experience spans across preclinical, translational, and clinical research and development.

Prior to Prologue, Rakesh co-founded Sastra Cell Therapy Inc. in South San Francisco, CA. He navigated the company through its critical foundational phases as a Senior Vice President, including tech-transfer, early-process, and preclinical development. His leadership was instrumental in setting the company's direction towards innovation, in assembling a highly skilled startup team and a world class scientific advisory board, and in raising Series A funding. Rakesh’s strategic vision at Sastra was dedicated to creating safer, more durable cell therapies for the treatment of solid tumors, demonstrating his deep commitment to enhancing cancer care.

In his career prior to Sastra, Rakesh has significantly contributed to various organizations, from early to late stages of development, including his leadership roles at RubrYc Therapeutics, Eli Lilly, and ARMO Biosciences — the latter being acquired by Eli Lilly for $1.6 billion. His key scientific contributions at Achelois Pharma Inc., Yale Cancer Center, and Maine Medical Center further demonstrate his diverse expertise and influence in the field of oncology and drug development, highlighted by more than 20 peer-reviewed publications in highly prestigious journals like Nature Medicine, Lancet Oncology, J Experimental Medicine, J Clinical Investigation and Blood.

Rakesh earned his Ph.D. in Medical Oncology from the esteemed All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi, India. He also holds degrees in Toxicology (MSc), Operations Management (MBA), Life Sciences (BSc), and Computer Sciences (BSc).  

Lovisa Afzelius is an origination partner at Flagship Pioneering. A computational scientist by training, she brings to Flagship two decades of leadership experience and a passion for data-driven drug discovery. Lovisa has served as CEO, co-founder, president, board chairman, and executive director, in emerging biotech and large pharma companies. She joined Flagship in early 2020, leading innovation as founding CEO of Alltrna as well as co-founder and CEO of Apriori Bio, Metaphore Biotechnologies, and Prologue Medicines.

Previously, Lovisa built and led Pfizer’s systems immunology function and served as executive director of clinical programs. In this role, she launched several Phase II studies across autoimmune indications and as a member of the Inflammation & Immunology Research Unit leadership team, Lovisa co-managed the portfolio from early target discovery to Phase II clinical trials across all immunological assets. In addition, she served on Pfizer’s Worldwide R&D Data Strategy Committee.

In 2017, Lovisa co-founded Elsa.science, a digital health company in the rheumatoid arthritis space where she serves as a board member. She also serves on the board of the Swedish New England Chamber of Commerce. Before moving to the US in 2013, Lovisa was CEO of BioChromix Pharma. She began her career at AstraZeneca as Project Director, Global In Vitro Metabolism Leader and Computational Chemist across cardiovascular, metabolic, and neurodegenerative diseases.

Lovisa has received numerous accolades for her work: In 2022, she was named one of the Top Women in Biopharma by Endpoints. She was included in the top 100 “most influential persons under age 40 in Sweden” by Affärsvärlden, and awarded “scientist of tomorrow” at the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations’ 30th anniversary. Lovisa received the Rosenön Award for best thesis of the year within the field of pharmacodynamics/pharmacokinetics in Sweden.

Lovisa holds a PhD in computational chemistry from Uppsala University, a Master of Science in integrative pharmacology from Gothenburg University as well as an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Noubar Afeyan is founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering. He is also co-founder and Board Chairman of Moderna.

Founded in 2000, Flagship is an enterprise where entrepreneurially-minded scientists invent seemingly unreasonable solutions to challenges facing human health and sustainability. They begin by asking “What if?” and iterate toward the unexpected answers resulting in the creation of first-in-category bioplatform companies with significant impact. Flagship has developed more than 100 scientific ventures resulting in over $100 billion in aggregate value, thousands of patents and patent applications, and more than 50 drugs in clinical development.

During his career as inventor, entrepreneur, and CEO, Noubar has cofounded and helped build over 70 life science and technology startups. Prior to founding Flagship Pioneering, Noubar was the founder and CEO of PerSeptive Biosystems, a leader in bio-instrumentation that grew to $100 million in annual revenues. After PerSeptive’s acquisition by Perkin Elmer/Applera Corporation in 1998, he became senior vice president and chief business officer of Applera, where he initiated and oversaw the creation of Celera Genomics.

In addition to his role at Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA), the pioneering messenger RNA medicines company, he is also co-founder and Board Chairman of Omega Therapeutics (NASDAQ: OMGA), Generate Biomedicines, Tessera Therapeutics, Alltrna, Apriori Bio, and ProFound Therapeutics. Previously, he was a member of the founding team, director, and investor in highly successful ventures including Chemgenics Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Millenium Pharmaceuticals), Color Kinetics (acquired by Philips), Adnexus Therapeutics (acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb), and Affinnova (acquired by AC Nielsen).

Noubar entered biotechnology during its emergence as an academic field and industry, completing his doctoral work in biochemical engineering at MIT in 1987. He has written numerous scientific publications and is the inventor of over 100 patents. He was a senior lecturer at MIT’s Sloan School of Management from 2000 to 2016, and a lecturer at Harvard Business School until 2020. He teaches and speaks around the world on topics ranging from entrepreneurship, innovation, and economic development to biological engineering, new medicines, and renewable energy.

Noubar’s commitment to improving the human condition through science and business goes hand in hand with social investments and a global humanitarian initiative. Together with his partners, he has launched philanthropic projects including the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, FAST Foundation, and the UWC Dilijan School. Noubar is a member of the Corporation of MIT (the Institute’s governing body) and a member of the board of trustees for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Noubar was born in Beirut to Armenian parents in 1962, did his undergraduate work at McGill University in Montreal, and completed his Ph.D. in biochemical engineering at MIT in 1987. A passionate advocate of the contributions of immigrants to economic and scientific progress, Noubar received the Golden Door Award in 2017 from the International Institute of New England, in honor of his outstanding contributions to American society as a U.S citizen of foreign birth. He was also awarded a Great Immigrant honor from the Carnegie Corporation in 2016, received a Technology Pioneer award from the World Economic Forum in 2012, and was presented with the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2008. In 2022, Noubar was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

Theonie Anastassiadis, Ph.D., joined Flagship Pioneering in 2018 after completing the firm’s Flagship Pioneering Fellowship. Theonie works as part of a venture-creation team to develop the science, intellectual property, and business strategy to found and grow Flagship’s next breakthrough startups. She is a co-Founder and member of the founding team of the tRNA platform company Alltrna where she also serves as Chief Innovation Officer.

Before joining Flagship, Theonie received her Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology with a focus in Cancer Biology from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research on replication fork dynamics in the context of cancer development and therapeutics was supported through multiple fellowships, including a 4-year NIH F31 NRSA Predoctoral Fellowship. Theonie also completed a Wharton Business Foundations Specialization and holds a B.S. in biology with honors from Haverford College.

Theonie’s work has resulted in multiple patents and publications, including articles in Nature Biotechnology, Molecular Cell, and Journal of Biological Chemistry. She was honored in 2022 in Endpoints News' 20 under 40 list of the next generation of biotech leaders and in Boston Business Journal' 40 under 40 list for successful professionals giving back to their community. She is a Business Advisory Board member of the Harvard Institute for RNA Medicine and a member of the Bioscience & Investor Inclusion Group (BIIG) Diverse Talent Network Group.

Hozefa Bandukwala is Vice President and Science Partner at Flagship Pioneering and currently serves as chief scientific officer of Prologue Medicines, in addition to interim chief scientific officer at Apriori Bio. Prior to joining Flagship, he served as vice president of platform biology at Sigilon Therapeutics. Prior to that, he was the senior director and head of discovery biology at Rheos Medicines. Before Rheos, Hozefa served as head of the immunometabolism laboratory at Pfizer where he pioneered novel target discovery in the field of immunometabolism. Hozefa earned a BS in biotechnology from the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay and a PhD in immunology from University of Chicago. His postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University focused on epigenetic and metabolic regulation of T cell functions.