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CLY11.17.22

The life sciences industry is creating breakthrough biotech companies addressing society’s greatest unmet medical needs. These companies translate scientific innovation to make life-altering drugs in order to transform healthcare.  Join us for a conversation with life sciences investors, Levi Smith ('19 PhD Cell Biology) and Santiago Salazar ('18 PhD Genetics), along with a biotech startup company builder, Gregg Keaney ('05 PhD Chemistry), as they discuss their career paths.

This event is co-sponsored by The Yale Biotech Club.

Speakers

Gregg Keaney

Gregg Keaney is the Senior Vice President of Drug Discovery and Product Development at Third Harmonic Bio where he oversees a broad range of small molecule R&D activities. Gregg has been one of the very first employees at Third Harmonic Bio and several other biotech startup companies during his industrial career of scientific entrepreneurship and company building. In previous roles at Cadent Therapeutics, Ataxion Therapeutics, H3 Biomedicine, and Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Gregg has led Product Development, CMC (Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls) development of drug substance and drug product manufacturing, and medicinal chemistry in the therapeutic areas of oncology, neuroscience, and allergy, and he has advanced multiple compounds into clinical studies. Gregg received his Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry from Yale University and B.S. from Tufts University.

Santiago Salazar 11.17.22

Dr. Salazar is an Associate at Oberland Capital. Previously, Dr. Salazar was a Scientist on the Immuno-Neurology team at Alector, where he validated and developed therapeutics across discovery and preclinical development. Prior to Alector, Dr. Salazar completed a Ph.D. in Genetics at Yale University focusing on the genetic and molecular determinants of Alzheimer’s disease pathophysiology. Dr. Salazar was a Venture Fellow for Canaan Partners and a Blavatnik Fellow during his graduate work. Dr. Salazar also holds a B.S. from the University of California, Santa Cruz in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and is an author on numerous patents and scientific publications.

Levi-Smith 11.17.22

Levi Smith joined Samsara BioCapital as a Senior Analyst in 2021. Prior to Samsara, Levi was a Research Investigator at Halda Therapeutics where he co-led the discovery of novel heterobifunctional small molecules for undisclosed oncology targets. Before joining Halda, Levi was a Venture Fellow with Canaan Partners. As a Ph.D. candidate at Yale, Levi’s research focused on the discovery of small molecules for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Projects and targets he worked on included repurposing near-drugs as well as the discovery of novel modulators of cellular prion protein, mGluR5, and Fyn kinase. Prior to Yale, Levi received his Pharm.D. from Butler University with an emphasis in molecular pharmacology.