Focused on transforming innovation into therapies in the heart of the Kendall Square biotech ecosystem

Director

Eric Achtmann

Eric is a Managing Director at Global Capital Group, Director at Javelin Oncology, Founding Member of Meggitt plc’s Technology Advisory Board, as well as a Senior Advisor to McKinsey and the European Commission. Eric was previously Managing Partner at PolyTechnos Venture-Partners, a pan-European Life Science and Tech venture fund; Co-founder & Executive Chairman of V-Nova, a world leader in video compression; and Architect of Costa Coffee’s “Project Marlow”, which led to the $5.1b acquisition by Coca-Cola. He holds multiple degrees in engineering and finance, including from MIT and the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is a Professor of Practice at the MIT-founded Skoltech and former Senior Lecturer at the TU Munich and ETH Zurich. Eric enjoys flying and making great food, from German breads to kimchi.

Director

Lita Nelsen

Lita is the retired Director of MIT’s Technology Licensing Officer, where she was for 30 years. She is widely published in the field, and has advised a number of international governments on technology transfer policies. She is a founder of PraxisAuril in the UK, and was awarded a Member of the British Empire for her aid to UK universities in technology transfer. Lita is currently a consultant in technology transfer policies and licensing agreements, primarily in the biotechnology sphere, and serves on a number of non-profit boards. She received her B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering from MIT, and an MBA as a Sloan Fellow from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Scientist

Viktor Martyanov, PhD

Viktor is a Bioinformaticist at Celdara Medical where he is working with academia and industry partners to analyze clinical trials using genomic data and bring Celdara’s pipeline to its full potential. Prior to Celdara, Viktor worked at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth to identify molecular biomarkers of clinical response in systemic sclerosis, a rare and deadly autoimmune disease. Viktor received his BS in Genetic Biology from Purdue University and his PhD in Biological Sciences from Dartmouth College. Viktor enjoys reading Wall Street Journal, exploring community gardens, ordering DoorDash and watching survival shows on Hulu.

2020 - 21 Chef Fellow

Alexander Margulis, Ph.D.