Managing Partner

Chen Yu

Dr. Yu is the founder and Managing Partner at TCGX. Prior to founding TCGX, Dr. Yu spent sixteen years as a Managing Partner at Vivo Capital, a life sciences focused investor with $4.5 B AUM. Dr. Yu has extensive operating experience with leadership roles at both private and public companies, including stints as the COO of Sagent Pharmaceuticals and CBO of China KangHui, both of which went public and were ultimately acquired. Dr. Yu has served on the board of over a dozen private/public companies, including Artios, Upstream Bio, Structure Therapeutics (NASDAQ:GPCR), Arbor Biotechnologies, Tarsus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: TARS), Sagent Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SGNT, acquired by Nichi-I-Ko), China Kanghui (NYSE:KH, acquired by Medtronic), Rempex (acquired by Medicines Company), Kala (NASDAQ:KALA), Nabriva (NASDAQ: NBRV), Surgical Specialties (acquired by GTCR), Sentre Heart (acquired by Atricure), and NKF Pharma (SHA: 603707). While at Vivo, he also led investments in Zai Labs (NASDAQ: ZLAB), RiverVision (acquired by Horizon), CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP), Intellia (NASDAQ: NTLA), Durata (acquired by Actavis), Trauson (acquired by Stryker), and Revolution Medicines (NASDAQ:RVMD).

Dr. Yu also serves on the California Leadership Council for the Nature Conservancy and was previously a member of the Stanford Medical School Alumni Board of Governors. Dr. Yu received his M.D. and M.B.A. from Stanford University and graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Biology from Harvard University.

Managing Partner

Cariad Chester

Prior to joining TCGX, Cariad was a Managing Director at Aquilo Capital, where he led investments in biotechnology companies developing human therapeutics. Prior to Aquilo Capital, Cariad was a research scientist at Stanford University studying tumor-immune system interactions during cancer progression and treatment. He has authored or co-authored over 20 peer-reviewed manuscripts and presented research at conferences in Canada, the US, and China. Cariad received his B.A. from Swarthmore College, where he double majored in Neuroscience and Comparative Religious Studies.

Cariad’s past investments include Icosavax (acquired by AstraZeneca), Iveric Bio (acquired by Astellas), Gracell Biotechnologies (acquired by AstraZeneca), Versanis (acquired by Eli Lilly), Akouos (acquired by Eli Lilly), VectivBio (acquired by Ironwood), Carmot (acquired by Roche), Upstream Bio (NASDAQ: UPB), Tourmaline Bio (NASDAQ: TRML), and Structure Therapeutics (NASDAQ: GPCR). He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Pheon, Beacon Therapeutics, Obsidian, Plexium, Vicebio, and Adcendo.

Partner

Giuliano Marostica

Prior to joining TCGX, Mr. Marostica was an Associate at Great Point Partners, where he focused on public investments in therapeutics companies. Prior to joining Great Point Partners, he was an analyst in the Healthcare Investment Banking group at Citigroup. Mr. Marostica graduated magna cum laude with a BSc in Biomedical Engineering from Brown University.

Venture Partner

Dandan Dong

Dr. Dandan Dong joined TCGX as a venture partner to lead the venture formation effort. She brings over 15 years of global healthcare investment and biotech operating experience. Before joining TCGX, she served as the Chief Business Officer of ArriVent Biopharma, where she played an essential role in company formation and led the acquisition of the ex-China rights of the core asset, furmonertinib. She was also instrumental in the company’s private and public financing activities.

Prior to that, Dr. Dong was the Managing Director of Vivo Capital, the General Partner of Vivo PANDA Fund and Innovation Fund II. She incubated biotech companies with cross border strategies, including Visen Pharmaceutical, a joint venture with Ascendis Pharma. As the founding CBO and Executive board member, she led pipeline acquisition, corporate strategy, management recruitment, financing, while chairing the joint collaboration committee. She co-founded RareStone Group, the first rare disease ecosystem in Greater China. While at Vivo, she also led and involved in investments including Legendbio, Remegen Bio, InnoCare Pharma, Gracell (acquired by AstraZeneca), Hansoh Pharma, Zai Lab, Innovent Biologics, ReadCore (acquired by 10x Genomics), IGM Biosciences, PowerVison (acquired by Alcon), WuXi Apptec, Bolt Therapeutic, Codexis, Verona, Ascendis.

Analyst

George Feng

Prior to joining TCGX, George graduated summa cum laude from the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology (M&T) at the University of Pennsylvania. He earned a BSc in Economics from Wharton with a concentration in Finance, as well as a BSc in Bioengineering from the School of Engineering and Applied Science with a concentration in Therapeutics & Drug Delivery. During his studies, George completed internships at Novartis and Point72, a Connecticut-based hedge fund. While on campus, he also consulted for early-stage biotech startups within the university ecosystem.

Principal

Julie Yang

Prior to joining TCGX, Julie (Jr-Shiuan) accumulated over 15 years of experience in the life sciences sector, spanning investment, biotech industry, and academia. She served as a Senior Director of Venture Investments at Leaps by Bayer and as a Vice President at Bain Capital Life Sciences, focusing on evaluating early-to-mid stage therapeutic opportunities. Prior to her investment roles, Julie worked as a scientist and drug developer at Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, Inc., contributing to cardiovascular and rare disease programs with a particular focus on platform optimization. She received a Ph.D. in molecular biology and biochemistry from Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, and an MBA from INSEAD in France. She graduated from National Taiwan University with a B.S. in Biochemical Science and Technology.

Associate

Haithem Laaribi

Prior to joining TCGX, Haithem was a Senior Associate at Evercore ISI, focusing on SMID Cap biotech coverage. Prior to Evercore, he was a consultant at Eversana Consulting and Deallus. Haithem received a B.Sc. in Pharmacology from McGill University.

Associate

Susan Wang

Prior to joining TCGX, Susan obtained her PhD in Biomedical Sciences from University of California San Diego School of Medicine. Her research combined CRISPR and live imaging techniques to investigate the dynamics of estrogen dependent transcription regulation in breast cancer, and has authored/co-authored several articles in Nature and Cell journals. During her time in academia, Susan interned at Genentech in Portfolio Management and Strategy after which she joined RTW for therapeutics investments. Susan also worked as a consultant for Avego and Enceladus Bio, where she led scientific diligence in early-stage biotech and helped establish a clinical pipeline. Susan received her B.A. from University of California Berkeley, where she double majored in Molecular Cell Biology and Psychology.

Associate

Suan Tuang

Before joining TCGX, Tuang served as an Investment Analyst at Foresite Capital Management, focusing on investment opportunities in private and public biotech companies. Prior to this, Tuang worked as an Associate Research Analyst at Eventide Asset Management. He received a Ph.D. in Chemical Biology from MIT and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School. He graduated from MIT with a B.S. in Chemistry.

COO & CFO

Craig Skaling

Prior to joining TCGX, Craig was the Director of Finance at Vetamer Capital, a registered investment advisor, investing in both public and private financial-technology companies. Prior to Vetamer, Craig was the Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of Copernicus Capital, an SEC registered equity long /short healthcare strategy, where he was responsible for financial operations, firm compliance and managed all non-investment aspects of the business. Prior to joining Copernicus, Craig held both Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer roles at San Francisco-based Hedge Funds Two Ocean Capital, and RBI Capital. Prior to joining RBI, Craig was Fund Controller for Seasons Capital; a multibillion-dollar global long/short equity strategy that focused on technology, media and telecom stocks. Craig joined Seasons after several years in various fund administration roles at Citco Fund Services (San Francisco), Inc., UBS Fund Services (Cayman Islands) Ltd. and BISYS Hedge Fund Services (Bermuda) Ltd. Craig began his career as an auditor at KPMG. Craig received his BBA in Accounting from St. Francis Xavier University, and is a Canadian Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA).

Head of Trading

Brad Balter

Prior to joining TCGX, Brad was at Bain Capital Life Sciences, where he was responsible for trading execution, capital markets, and working with portfolio companies on their capital formation needs. Before Bain Capital, Brad was CEO of a multi-billion investment firm he founded, which focused on analyzing hedge fund and private equity structures for institutions and family offices. Before launching his firm, Brad was a Managing Director of Institutional Equities at Citigroup Global Markets (previously Salomon Smith Barney), where he was responsible for sales and trading of key institutional relationships of the firm. He started his career at PaineWebber Inc., handling middle-market institutional relationships. He is a graduate of Williams College and a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

Head of Capital Formation & Investor Relations

Ed Amorosi

Prior to joining TCGX, Ed was a Director and Relationship Manager at Probitas Partners, leading distribution, project management, and sourcing responsibilities across venture capital, growth equity, control buyouts, private credit, & real assets. Ed served as a placement agent or worked in-house with other prominent healthcare & life science strategies including, Great Point Partners (GPP), where he was Director of Marketing & Business Development leading efforts on capital formation of The BioMedical Value Fund (BMVF) and lower-mid market healthcare services fund, GPP II from 2011-2014. Prior to GPP, Ed was Head of Marketing with Kellner Capital (founded 1981), an event-driven equity & debt manager in Midtown Manhattan where he built out the IR function. From 2002-2007, Ed worked in asset management and distribution roles between Bear Stearns & Merrill Lynch placing alternatives into high-net worth client portfolios. Ed received his B.A. from Georgetown University (GU) where he double majored in International Relations & Art History, a minor in Spanish, and then lived in Spain with a stint as a politico-economic reporter right out of college.

Controller

Jing Wu

Prior to joining TCGX, Jing was a Manager at Standish Management, a premier VC and PE fund administrator. Prior to Standish Management, Jing was an Assistant Controller at Bloom Tree Partners, a Tiger-seeded Long-Short Equity Fund. Prior to joining Bloom Tree Partners, Jing worked as a fund accountant at Davidson Kempner Capital Management. Jing began her career as an auditor at EY.

Jing received her BS in Commerce from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia.

Echo Qin

Echo is a seasoned accounting professional currently serving as the Senior Accounting Manager at TCGX. Prior to joining TCGX, Echo served as an Accounting Manager at Spectrum Equity, where she was responsible for all aspects of fund accounting for several of the firm’s funds. Prior to Spectrum, Echo was an Accounting Manager at Makena Capital, tasked with the firm’s investment partnership accounting and responsible for both GP and corporate entities. Her career also includes a significant role as Accounting Manager at Zuora and experience in PE and hedge fund accounting with Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors. Echo began her journey in the fund accounting field as an audit professional at Rothstein Kass, specializing in fund audit. Echo received her MS from California State University, Los Angeles, and her BS in Finance from Renmin University of China. She is a CPA (inactive).

Operations

Kate Garcia

Kate has worked in office administration for the last several years. Prior to joining TCGX, Kate worked at the Helmsley Charitable Trust and Point72. Kate received her BA in International Relations from Richmond University of London and her MSc in International Development from Kings College London.

Executive Assistant

Bow Papanos

Bow’s career has expanded over two decades as an Executive Assistant, Estate Management in private service for High profile Philanthropists, Venture Capitalists, and Celebrities. Prior to joining TCGX, Bow worked at a nonprofit organization as the Executive Personal Assistant to the CEO/President of GLIDE Foundation. As the thought partner and gatekeeper to the CEO, Bow worked closely with very prominent VIP’s, doners, funders, including political members. She worked closely with the Fund Development team, supported several departments and wore multiple hats. Prior to working at GLIDE, Bow was the Executive Personal Assistant, Office Manager for a retired professional NFL athlete and his family. She worked closely with the fund-raising team and supported him with multiple other foundations and business ventures.

Science Partner

Robert Tjian, PhD

Dr. Tjian joined The Column Group as a Discovery Partner in September 2016. Prior to that he served as President of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute 2009-2016.

Dr. Tjian discovered the first human proteins called transcription factors that bind to specific sections of DNA and play a critical role in regulating how genetic information is expressed into the thousands of biomolecules that keep cells, tissues, and organisms alive. Tjian’s laboratory has focused on disruptions in the process of transcription that cause diseases such as cancer, metabolic syndromes, and neuro-degenerative diseases. Most recently, he has developed cutting edge molecular imaging systems to track the dynamic movement of individual proteins in live cells in real time to study how transcription factors control the self renewal, pluripotency and differentiation of embryonic stem cells.

Dr. Tjian joined the University of California, Berkeley faculty in 1979, where he assumed several leadership roles such as: Director of the Berkeley Stem Cell Center, Faculty Director of the Li Ka Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences and Head of the Siebel Stem Initiative. He currently holds the Li Ka Shing Chancellor’s Chair in Biology and serves as scientific advisor to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the BioHub.

He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and has received numerous awards including the Alfred P. Sloan Prize and the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize. He was a co-founder of Tularik with Dave Goeddel and Steve McKnight and a founding Science Partner of TCG.

Board of Directors: Nurix, Neurona Therapeutics

Science Partner

Roger Perlmutter, MD

Dr. Perlmutter is President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of Eikon Therapeutics, Inc., a private biotechnology company that employs advanced imaging technologies to identify novel therapeutic candidates by virtue of their effects on protein dynamics in living cells. Dr. Perlmutter was previously Executive Vice President, Merck & Co., and President of Merck Research Laboratories where he supervised the discovery and development of numerous lifesaving medicines. Before this, Dr. Perlmutter spent 12 years as Executive Vice President and head of R&D at Amgen.

Prior to assuming leadership roles in industry, Dr. Perlmutter was a professor in the Departments of Immunology, Biochemistry and Medicine at the University of Washington, Seattle, and also served as Chairman of its Department of Immunology, where he was at the same time an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. His research focused on understanding the signaling pathways that control lymphocyte activation. Prior to his role at the University of Washington, he was a lecturer in the Division of Biology at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena.

Dr. Perlmutter is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and both a Distinguished Fellow and past president of the American Association of Immunologists.

Science Partner

Charles Sawyers, MD

Charles Sawyers, MD, is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the inaugural Director of the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program (HOPP) at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. His laboratory is currently focused on characterizing signal transduction pathway abnormalities in prostate cancer, with an eye toward translational implications. His earlier research focused on BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase function in chronic myeloid leukemia. This work, and that of colleagues Brian Druker and Novartis, led to the development of the kinase inhibitor imatinib (Gleevec) as primary therapy for chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), and the discovery that imatinib resistance is caused by BCR-ABL kinase domain mutations. This discovery led him to evaluate second generation Abl kinase inhibitors, such as the dual Src/Abl inhibitor dasatinib, which received fast-track approval at the FDA in June 2006. Dr. Sawyer’s more recent work in prostate cancer has defined critical signaling pathways for disease initiation and progression through studies in mouse models and human tissues. This preclinical work led to the development of a novel anti-androgen ARN-509, a small-molecule inhibitor discovered in collaboration with UCLA chemist Michael Jung, which targets the increased levels of androgen receptor found in hormone-refractory disease.

Dr. Sawyers is past President of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and served on the National Cancer Institute’s Board of Scientific Councilors. He has won numerous honors and awards, including the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award, the Dorothy Landon Prize from the American Association of Cancer Research, the David A. Karnofsky Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the 2009 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine and in 2010 was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Sawyers was a co-founder of Aragon Pharmaceuticals and the founder of Seragon Pharmaceuticals. He is also the founder of ORIC Pharmaceuticals.

Scientific Advisory Board: ORIC Pharmaceuticals

Science Partner

Richard Scheller, PhD

Richard H. Scheller joined 23andMe in April of 2015 as chief scientific officer and head of therapeutic development. He is responsible for translating genetic information into the discovery and development of new therapies for both common and rare diseases.

Science Partner

Vishva M. Dixit, MD

Dr. Dixit is Vice President and Staff Scientist of Physiological Chemistry at Genentech. He has made many contributions to biomedicine and his early work on apoptosis is prominent in introductory textbooks of biology and medicine [for a historical perspective see Nature (2008, 453:271-273) and Nature Cell Biology (2010, 12:415)]. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Foreign Member, European Molecular Biology Organization. Additionally, he serves on the Boards of the Gates Foundation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Keystone Symposia.

Science Partner

Huda Y. Zoghbi, MD

Dr. Huda Y. Zoghbi is a professor in the Departments of Pediatrics, Molecular and Human Genetics, Neurology and Neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine. She is also an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the director of the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (NRI) at Texas Children’s Hospital. At HHMI, Dr. Zoghbi and her collaborators have unraveled the genetic underpinnings of a number of devastating neurological disorders, including Rett syndrome and spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1). Their discoveries have provided new ways of thinking about more common neurological disorders, including autism, intellectual disability, and Parkinson’s disease, and could lead to better treatments. Dr. Zoghbi and her colleagues have also identified the mutation responsible for SCA1, one of several polyglutamine neurodegenerative disorders that slowly rob their victims of balance and motor control. Her lab team is searching for compounds that enhance the clearance of mutant proteins in several of these diseases, which might slow disease progression or prevent it altogether.

Science Partner

Charles Zuker, PhD

Dr. Charles Zuker is Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics and of Neuroscience, Columbia University Medical Center. Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Dr. Zuker is known for his work in sensory neuroscience, including mechanisms of phototransduction, mechanotransduction, and more recently taste. Dr. Zuker and collaborators identified the cells, receptors, and coding logic for the five basic taste qualities (sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami). Dr. Zuker’s research has been recognized by several awards, including the Cogan Award and the Alcon Award for his research on vision, the Spencer Award from Columbia University, and the International Flavors and Fragrances Award for his work in taste. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was a scientific co-founder of Aurora Biosciences and Senomyx.

Dr. Zuker is a co-founder of Kallyope.

Scientific Advisory Board: Kallyope

Science Partner

Helen Hobbs, PhD

Dr. Hobbs is a human geneticist with expertise in lipid metabolism. She is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and a Professor of Internal Medicine and Molecular Genetics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. She spearheaded the establishment of the Dallas Heart Study (DHS), a multiethnic, population-based study in which she and her scientific partner, Jonathan Cohen, have discovered multiple genetic determinants of plasma lipid levels and cardiovascular risk. They identified the first individuals with inactivating mutations in PCSK9 and showed that these individuals have reduced blood levels of low density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol and are protected from heart disease. These findings led to the rapid development of two FDA-approved, anti-PCSK9 antibodies for treatment of hypercholesterolemia and prevention of heart attacks. Her work has highlighted the function of selected angiopoietin-like (ANGPTL) family members in lowering plasma lipid levels and altering lipid trafficking to tissues. She also identified and has characterized the function of a heterodimeric cholesterol transporter (ABCG5/ABCG8) that protects humans from the accumulation of dietary sterols.

More recently, the focus of her work has been on fatty liver disease. Here she has discovered genetic variants conferring susceptibility to fatty liver disease (PNPLA3, TM6SF2) and resistance (HSD17B13) to progression of the disorder; she is currently determining the physiological and pathological roles of these proteins.

She was elected to the National Academy of Medicine (2004) and to the National Academy of Sciences (2007). Among her awards, she has received the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences (2015), the Grand Prix Award from the Institute of France (2018), and the Harrington Prize for Innovation and Medicine (2018). Dr. Hobbs is on the Board of Directors at Pfizer, Inc.