Meet our highly knowledgeable and talented Board of Directors.
Ankit Mahadevia, MD, serves as Chairman of the Spero Therapeutics Board of Directors. He previously served as Spero’s President and CEO. He was formerly a Venture Partner in the life sciences group at Atlas Venture, located in Cambridge, MA. In that capacity he supported the formation of eight companies focused on novel drug discovery platforms and therapeutic products including Nimbus Therapeutics, Arteaus Therapeutics (acquired by Lilly), and Translate Bio (Nasdaq: TBIO). He led three of these as Acting CEO, including Synlogic (Nasdaq: SYBX). Prior to joining Atlas in 2008, Ankit worked on product and business development with the founding team at Arcion Therapeutics. He has also held positions in business development both at Genentech and at Vanda Pharmaceuticals. Previously, he worked in the health care groups of McKinsey & Company and Monitor Group. Ankit began his career in health care policy, with roles in the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committees, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, and the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS). He has spoken widely on entrepreneurship, including at Harvard University, Columbia University, Northwestern University, and the Berkeley Forum. Ankit has also been active in the policy of life science innovation, including service on the Advisory Council at the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Studies.
Sath Shukla is the President and CEO of Spero Therapeutics and a member of the Board of Directors. He previously served as Spero’s Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Shukla joined Spero as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in 2020 with over two decades of strategic and financial leadership experience. During his tenure as Spero’s CFO, he has led all aspects of the Company’s finance, accounting, and business development functions, and has played an instrumental role in securing strategic investments and licensing agreements from GSK (LSE/NYSE: GSK) and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE). Prior to Spero, Mr. Shukla was CFO at Ziopharm Oncology, Inc. (now Alaunos Therapeutics), and prior to that, served as Vice President and Global Head of Corporate Finance for Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. While at Vertex, Mr. Shukla managed financial planning, analysis and budgeting, and led the annual long-range planning process encompassing the company’s entire portfolio and operations across more than 30 countries. Earlier in his career, Mr. Shukla was a Principal at Cornerstone Research, and worked for finance consulting firms LECG Corporation and Putnam, Hayes & Bartlett, Inc. Mr. Shukla earned a B.A. in Economics from Harvard University and an M.B.A. in Finance and Strategy from Yale University. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
Milind Deshpande, PhD, previously served as Chairman of the Board of Spero Therapeutics, and as part of a leadership transition, has stepped down, and currently remains a member of the Board. Milind joined Achillion in September 2001 as Vice President of Chemistry, was named Head of Drug Discovery in April 2002, Senior Vice President of Drug Discovery in December 2002, Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer in December 2004, and Executive Vice President of Research and Chief Scientific Officer in June 2007. He was promoted to President Research and Development in October 2010. From May 2013 to May 2018, Dr. Deshpande served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Achillion and was on the Board of Directors. Prior to joining Achillion, Dr. Deshpande was Associate Director of Lead Discovery and Early Discovery Chemistry at the Pharmaceutical Research Institute at Bristol-Myers Squibb from 1991 to 2001, where he managed the identification of new clinical candidates to treat infectious and neurological diseases. From 1988 to 1991, he held a faculty position at Boston University Medical School. Dr. Deshpande received his PhD in Organic Chemistry from Ohio University, following his undergraduate education in India.
Frank Thomas has served as a member of our Board of Directors since July 2017. Mr. Thomas serves as the President and Chief Operating Officer of Orchard Therapeutics Limited, a development-stage biotechnology company based in the United Kingdom that he joined in January 2018. Prior to Orchard, Mr. Thomas served as the President and Chief Operating Officer of AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a publicly traded, commercial-stage pharmaceutical company, from April 2015 to April 2017, as AMAG’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer from May 2012 through April 2015 and as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer from August 2011 through May 2012. Prior to AMAG, he served as Senior Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer for Molecular Biometrics, Inc., a commercial stage medical diagnostics company, from October 2008 to July 2011. Prior to Molecular Biometrics, Mr. Thomas spent four years at Critical Therapeutics, Inc., a public biopharmaceutical company, from April 2004 to March 2008, where he was promoted to President in June 2006 and Chief Executive Officer in December 2006 from the position of Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. He also served on the Board of Directors of Critical Therapeutics from 2006 to 2008. Prior to 2004, Mr. Thomas served as the Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations at Esperion Therapeutics, Inc., a public biopharmaceutical company. Mr. Thomas was a member of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council from 2007 to 2015 and currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Zafgen, Inc., a public biopharmaceutical company, which he joined in June 2014. Mr. Thomas holds a B.B.A. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. We believe that Mr. Thomas’ extensive commercial and operational management experience at biopharmaceutical companies and with financial matters qualifies him to serve on our board of directors.
Patrick Vink, M.D., M.B.A., aged 52, is currently an advisor to the Pharmaceutical industry since 2015 and non-executive Board member of several companies. Previously, Dr. Vink was employed at Cubist Pharmaceuticals. Most recently he served as Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer, overseeing all worldwide commercial and technical operations as well as global alliance management and managing the company’s P&L. He joined Cubist in 2012 as Senior Vice-president and Head of all International Business Operations. In this role he was responsible for the all business activities in International markets outside USA.Prior to joining Cubist, Dr. Vink served as Senior Vice President, Global Head of Hospital Business and Global Head of Biologics for Mylan Inc. In this role, Dr. Vink managed the global hospital business of the company. He joined Mylan in 2008 and established a number of global functions for the company in Switzerland. Before joining Mylan, Dr. Vink held several leadership positions across the industry, including Head of Global Business Franchise Biopharmaceuticals for Novartis Sandoz; Vice-President International Business for Biogen; and Head of Worldwide Marketing, Cardiovascular and Thrombosis for Sanofi-Synthelabo.Dr. Vink served as a member of the Executive Committee of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) between 2013 and 2015. Dr. Vink graduated as a medical doctor from the University of Leiden, Netherlands in 1988 and obtained his MBA in 1992 at the University of Rochester.
John C. Pottage, Jr., M.D. served as Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific and Medical Officer of ViiV Healthcare from November 2009 to October 2019, where he oversaw research and development, regulatory, safety and medical affairs. Prior to joining ViiV Healthcare, Dr. Pottage served as Senior Vice President and Head of the Infectious Disease Medicine Development Center at GlaxoSmithKline from September 2008 to November 2009, and prior to that, from June 2007 to September 2008, as Vice President of Global Clinical Development of Antivirals at GlaxoSmithKline. From May 2002 to May 2007, Dr. Pottage served as Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Drug Development of Achillion Pharmaceuticals. Prior to Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Pottage served as Medical Director of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, and in various positions at Rush University Medical Center. Dr. Pottage serves on the advisory board of Medicines for Malaria Venture in Geneva, Switzerland. He received his A.B. in biology from Colgate University and his M.D. from Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
Cynthia Smith most recently served as Chief Commercial Officer and a member of the executive team of ZS Pharma where she helped lead the company from development to commercialization through its acquisition by AstraZeneca in 2016. Prior to joining ZS Pharma, Ms. Smith served as Vice President, Market Access and Commercial Development at Affymax from 2008 to 2013. She also held various senior leadership positions in market access, corporate strategy, government relations and external affairs at Merck from 2000 to 2008. Before transitioning to the biopharmaceutical industry, Ms. Smith served as a healthcare policy analyst in the White House Office of Management and Budget from 1995 to 2000. Ms. Smith currently serves on the boards of Dicerna Pharmaceuticals and Akebia Therapeutics, and previously served on the board of Nivalis Therapeutics from 2016 to 2017. She earned her M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and a M.S. in public policy from the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. Ms. Smith received a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Scott Jackson has more than thirty years of corporate leadership experience within the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, most recently serving as the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Celator Pharmaceuticals, Inc. until it was acquired by Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc. Prior to joining Celator Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Jackson held positions of increasing responsibility in sales, marketing and commercial development at multiple companies, including Eli Lilly & Company, SmithKline Beecham plc, ImClone Systems Incorporated, Centocor, Inc., a division of Johnson & Johnson, Eximias Pharmaceutical Corporation and YM BioSciences Inc. Mr. Jackson presently serves on the Board of Directors of MacroGenics, Inc. and GlycoMimetics, Inc. He also served on the Board of Trustees of the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society from March 2013 to June 2019. Mr. Jackson holds a B.S. in pharmacy from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science and an M.B.A. from the University of Notre Dame.
Kathleen Tregoning is currently the Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Cerevel Therapeutic with more than two decades of experience in biotechnology and public policy. Ms. Tregoning Prior to joining Cerevel Therapeutics, Ms. Tregoning served as Executive Vice President for External Affairs at Sanofi, where she led an integrated organization to develop external engagement strategies and optimize patient access to therapies. Prior to her time at Sanofi, Ms. Tregoning spent more than 10 years at Biogen, first as Vice President, Public Policy & Government Affairs and then as Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs. In the latter role, she was responsible for the development and execution of integrated corporate affairs strategies through effective deployment of communications, patient advocacy, public policy, and government affairs on a global basis.Earlier in her career, Ms. Tregoning was a professional staff member for multiple committees in the United States Congress, and also served as an assistant deputy mayor for policy & budget in the office of the Mayor of Los Angeles. Ms. Tregoning graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in International Relations and holds an M.A. in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Spero team members are pioneers and emerging leaders in the anti-infective field. Spero professionals share our company’s ambitious focus on addressing unmet needs in infectious disease and helping to find solutions to treat patients who suffer from these infections. Get to know our team of experts in the treatment of infectious disease.
Sath Shukla is the President and CEO of Spero Therapeutics and a member of the Board of Directors. He previously served as Spero’s Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Shukla joined Spero as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in 2020 with over two decades of strategic and financial leadership experience. During his tenure as Spero’s CFO, he has led all aspects of the Company’s finance, accounting, and business development functions, and has played an instrumental role in securing strategic investments and licensing agreements from GSK (LSE/NYSE: GSK) and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE). Prior to Spero, Mr. Shukla was CFO at Ziopharm Oncology, Inc. (now Alaunos Therapeutics), and prior to that, served as Vice President and Global Head of Corporate Finance for Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. While at Vertex, Mr. Shukla managed financial planning, analysis and budgeting, and led the annual long-range planning process encompassing the company’s entire portfolio and operations across more than 30 countries. Earlier in his career, Mr. Shukla was a Principal at Cornerstone Research, and worked for finance consulting firms LECG Corporation and Putnam, Hayes & Bartlett, Inc. Mr. Shukla earned a B.A. in Economics from Harvard University and an M.B.A. in Finance and Strategy from Yale University. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
Kamal Hamed is the Chief Medical Officer at Spero Therapeutics. Kamal has over 20 years of experience leading various anti-infective clinical development programs in antibacterials, antivirals, antimalarials, and antifungals. Before joining Spero, he was Chief Medical Officer at Lysovant Sciences, Inc., a subsidiary of Roivant Sciences, Inc. Preceding Lysovant, Kamal was Head of Clinical Development & Medical Affairs at Basilea Pharmaceutica International, and prior to Basilea, he had held senior positions in clinical development and medical affairs at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation (including Therapeutic Area Head for Anti-infectives), Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Bayer Corporation, spearheading the successful global development, approval, and post-marketing medical affairs support of multiple anti-infectives.
Kamal holds an MD degree from the American University of Beirut, an MPH degree from the Johns Hopkins University, and an MBA degree from the University of South Florida. He completed a residency in Internal Medicine at UMDNJ–Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and a fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Stanford University School of Medicine. Kamal worked as an academic physician for 14 years before joining Pharma, is a fellow of both the American College of Physicians and the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and has published over 110 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals.
Tim Keutzer is the Chief Operating Officer at Spero Therapeutics. Tim has close to 30 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry, spanning multiple functional and therapeutic areas. Tim was previously Spero’s Chief Development Officer. Prior to joining Spero, he was Vice President of Program and Portfolio Management at Cubist Pharmaceuticals. While there, he was the program leader for ceftolozane/tazobactam, which progressed rapidly from Phase 1 to Phase 3, and was approved in the US in December of 2014. Prior to that role, he also lead several of Cubist’s in-licensed development programs, and also lead the commercial supply chain for Cubicin. His experience before Cubist spans the drug development continuum across multiple drug classes, and includes preclinical PK/PD and clinical operations at Genetics Institute, as well as global strategic marketing and program management at Wyeth. Tim began his career in contract toxicology labs.Tim studied English and microbiology at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY.
Ms. Tamara Joseph is the Chief Legal Officer at Spero Therapeutics. She is a seasoned health care leader, having served on executive teams and advised Boards of Directors at multiple publicly and privately-held companies. She has led legal, compliance, human resources, public and government affairs, and risk management departments at life science companies in the US and in Europe for over 20 years. Prior to joining Spero in December 2020, she served as General Counsel at Millendo Therapeutics, Inc. Ms. Joseph previously served as General Counsel at Enzyvant Therapeutics Ltd., InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp., Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Mayne Pharma Ltd. (acquired by Hospira), and Transkaryotic Therapies, Inc. (acquired by Shire). Earlier in her career, Ms. Joseph established and led Biogen Idec’s legal and public affairs departments outside the US. She began her legal career at the law firms of Morrison & Foerster and Fried Frank. She has a BA in Economics from Duke University, a JD from the University of Michigan Law School, and LLM degrees from the College of Europe in Belgium and the University of Paris.Ms. Joseph is also a member of the Board of Directors of Heluna Health, a member of the Board’s Executive Committee and its Governance Committee. Heluna Health is a population health non-profit with a focus on child and maternal nutrition, HIV prevention and homelessness. Ms. Joseph is also an independent director on the Board of BINA Farm Center, a therapeutic horseback riding association.
Jamie Brady is Chief Human Resource Officer at Spero Therapeutics. Jamie comes to Spero Therapeutics from uniQure Therapeutics where he served as CHRO, and Intarcia Therapeutics, where he served as Vice President, Human Resources. In both roles, he was responsible for all aspects of human resources including talent acquisition, total rewards, and people technology and operations. Previously, he served in several organization development and effectiveness roles at Genzyme, a Sanofi Company, including Genzyme’s global biotechnology manufacturing and distribution operations. Jamie also held leadership and talent development roles at Thomson Financial, and educational positions focused on leadership and management-related topics. Jamie earned a bachelor’s degree from Marietta College and a master’s degree from Harvard University.
Mr. DiPalma has been appointed as Spero’s Interim CFO and Treasurer, effective August 1, 2023. He is a Managing Director of Danforth Advisors, LLC, a financial consultancy that specializes in working with life sciences companies. Prior to and during his tenure at Danforth, Mr. DiPalma has served as interim CFO to several public and emerging companies in various stages of development. Mr. DiPalma joined Danforth in 2014 and served as CFO at Forum Pharmaceuticals from 2009 to 2014. He previously served as Spero’s Interim CFO and Treasurer from November 2019 to January 2021. He holds a B.S. from the University of Massachusetts and an M.B.A. from Babson College.
