Acceleron  

Kevin McLaughlin

Chief Financial Officer

Mr. McLaughlin joined Acceleron in November 2010. He brings more than 30 years of financial and operating management experience spanning the biotech, high tech and education industries. He most recently served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Qteros, Inc., a cellulosic biofuels company. From 1996 through 2007, Mr. McLaughlin held several executive positions with PRAECIS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He joined the company as their first Chief Financial Officer where he had responsibility for private financings, partnership financings, the company's initial public offering and subsequent secondary stock offerings. Later, Mr. McLaughlin became COO, and then President and CEO, as well as serving as a member of the Board of Directors. In this capacity he was responsible for negotiating the sale of the company to GlaxoSmithKline. He began his career in senior financial roles at Prime Computer and Computervision Corporation. Mr. McLaughlin received a B.S. from Northeastern University and M.B.A. from Babson College.

Matthew L. Sherman, M.D.

Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Sherman joined Acceleron in May 2006 as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer. Most recently, he was Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Synta Pharmaceuticals where he was responsible for clinical research, clinical operations, biostatistics, data management, regulatory affairs, quality assurance and program management. Previously, Dr. Sherman worked at Genetics Institute and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in various capacities including Therapeutic Area Director for Oncology. While at Wyeth, Dr. Sherman provided senior oncology and hematology leadership for worldwide clinical development for both small molecule and biologic therapeutics, including the submission and approval of Mylotarg® by the FDA. Dr. Sherman is board certified in Medical Oncology and Internal Medicine and held various clinical positions at Harvard Medical School with corresponding hospital appointments at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital. Dr. Sherman holds a B.S. in chemistry Phi Beta Kappa from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.D. with honors from Dartmouth Medical School. He has published over 75 papers and book chapters on laboratory and clinical development of novel drugs as well as in clinical and molecular pharmacology and holds several patents.

Steven Ertel

Chief Business Officer

Mr. Ertel joined Acceleron in January 2006 to lead the business development, market development, and investor/public relations functions. His experience spans the continuum from drug discovery to commercialization. He has worked at leading biotechnology companies including Genentech, Biogen Idec, and Synta Pharmaceuticals where he has led project teams of preclinical and clinical stage programs, ran a market development department, launched a novel biologic agent, and directed business development activities. Additionally, Mr. Ertel has experience in venture capital at Oxford Bioscience Partners. He has a B.S.E. in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Ravi Kumar, Ph.D.

Chief Scientific Officer

Dr. Kumar joined Acceleron Pharma as its first scientist, in March 2004. Dr. Kumar has over 18 years of experience in protein and small molecule drug discovery. Dr. Kumar established and currently leads discovery research at Acceleron, including molecular and cell biology functions. In 2005, Dr. Kumar led the development, cell culture, and quality control of Acceleron's GMP cell lines to support its first IND filing in March 2006. Prior to joining Acceleron Pharma, Dr. Kumar worked for 12 years at Genetics Institute and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. At Genetics Institute, Dr. Kumar was a key member of the Small Molecule Drug Discovery group and was responsible for the development of new expression cell lines. Following the integration of discovery functions from Genetics institute and Wyeth Pharmaceutical, Dr. Kumar led research to optimize protein expression in the Biological Chemistry group as a Senior Scientist. He received his Ph.D. from University of New Brunswick, Canada and completed his post-doctoral fellowship at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, in Bronx, NY.

Robert Steininger

SVP, Manufacturing

Mr. Steininger joined Acceleron in March 2007 as Senior Vice President, Manufacturing.  He was previously the Vice President of Process Sciences at Millennium Pharmaceuticals.  In this capacity, he was responsible for managing the processes for the bulk production of both large and small molecule clinical candidates.  Mr. Steininger also served as a VP within the Millennium Product and Portfolio Management organization.  Prior to joining Millennium, he held multiple roles at Genetics Institute (now Wyeth Pharmaceuticals) from 1984 to 2000, including Director of Clinical Production, Director of Process Technology, Director of Regulatory Affairs, and Senior Director of Research, Genomics.  Mr. Steininger is a member of the advisory board for the Massachusetts chapter of ISPE, an Advisory Board member of the Chemical Engineering Department of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and on the Biotechnology Advisory Board for the RISTA program at the Cambridge High School. He has been involved in setting up Biotechnology outreach programs with local grade schools and high schools while at Wyeth and Millennium.  Mr. Steininger received a S.B. in chemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

John Quisel, J.D., Ph.D.

VP and General Counsel

Dr. Quisel joined Acceleron in October 2006 to lead the intellectual property and legal affairs functions. His experience spans many aspects of biotechnology law, including the negotiation of intellectual property licenses and product development collaborations, patent prosecution and litigation. Prior to joining Acceleron, he worked at the Boston office of Ropes & Gray LLP and, prior to that, the Boston office of Foley Hoag LLP. In his work at law firms, Dr. Quisel has, through strategic in-licensing and protection of internal research programs, assembled and licensed product and platform focused intellectual property portfolios for numerous biotechnology ventures. He holds an A.B. in Biology from Harvard University, an M.S. from Stanford University, a Ph.D. from M.I.T. and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Nancy Sullivan

VP, Operations

Ms. Sullivan joined Acceleron in February of 2004 as the company’s first employee. She has over 20 years experience with private start-ups as well as public companies. At Acceleron, Ms. Sullivan is responsible for the human resources and facilities functions. She has managed the recruiting process for all of Acceleron’s employees as well as compensation, benefits and employee relations. She has also grown the footprint from the company’s first building to a campus of 80,000 square feet of manufacturing, lab, and office space. Most of Ms. Sullivan’s prior experience was in high-technology with companies including Cullinet Software, Lotus Development Corp., Shiva Corp., and Wheelhouse Corp. Prior to joining Acceleron, Ms. Sullivan was the Director of Operations at McNamee Lawrence & Co, a start-up boutique investment bank in Boston.

Kenneth Attie, M.D.

VP, Medical Research

Dr. Attie joined Acceleron in December 2009, and brings over 20 years of experience in the biotech industry and academic research. Previously, he was at Altus Pharmaceuticals, where he was Vice President of Clinical Development and Medical Affairs. Previously, Dr. Attie was Chief Medical Officer at Insmed, where he was responsible for obtaining FDA approval and commercialization of an IGF-1-related product. Prior to that, Dr.Attie held numerous positions during his 12-year tenure at Genentech, where he was responsible for several phase I-IV studies and participated in 9 FDA submissions for growth hormone. Dr. Attie was Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center, is board-certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Endocrinology, and has over 40 publications in peer-reviewed journals. He received his M.D. degree from New York University Medical Center and received his B.A. (in Music) from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

James Desiderio, Ph.D.

VP, Regulatory Affairs

Dr. Desiderio joined Acceleron in April 2007 with 23 years of experience in pharmaceutical R&D, including a total of 17 years in Project Management.  Dr. Desiderio was previously the Executive Director and Department Head, Program Management at Idenix Pharmaceuticals and before that worked at a number of companies including Gilead Sciences and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.  Dr. Desiderio has a vast and successful track record of leading project teams responsible for drug development activities from the research stage through to global registration and commercialization, and has been closely involved in the development of more than 10 currently marketed products.  Dr. Desiderio holds an M.S. degree in Veterinary Medicine and a Ph.D. in Immunology from the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University.

Melissa Morandi

VP, Quality

Ms. Morandi joined Acceleron in June 2009 as Vice President of Quality. Previously, she was the Vice President of Quality at Anesiva. and has also held numerous leadership positions in Quality Departments at Biogen Idec, Genentech and Amgen. During her 9-year tenure at Genentech, Ms. Morandi supported product launches and regulatory inspections for Genentech's oncology, cardiac and growth hormone products. Prior to that, she worked in Quality Assurance at Amgen, where she supported product launches for several Amgen products. Ms. Morandi is Regulatory Affairs Certified (R.A.C.) and is currently a board member for the West Coast Parenteral Drug Association. Ms, Morandi holds a B.A. degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara and a M.S. degree in Immunology from California State University at Northridge

Douglas W. Pagán

VP, Finance

Mr. Pagán joined Acceleron in April 2008 and currently serves as Vice President of Finance.  He has held roles in financial and engineering / operations management at leading pharmaceutical companies including Bristol-Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson.  Immediately prior to joining Acceleron, Doug worked at Biogen Idec as Division Controller with responsibility for reporting, accounting, financial planning and procurement.  Additionally, he has financial transaction experience, having worked in JPMorgan’s healthcare investment banking group.   Mr. Pagán holds a B.S.E. in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Christopher Rovaldi

VP, Program Management

Mr. Rovaldi joined Acceleron in July 2007. He has over 10 years of Program Management experience leading antiviral, antibacterial and biologic programs spanning the development cycle from pre-IND to marketing authorization.   He has worked at several biotechnology companies including Cubist Pharmaceuticals and Idenix Pharmaceuticals where he was also involved in managing various aspects of the commercial infrastructure to support each company’s first product launch. Mr. Rovaldi holds a B.S. and M.S. degree in Microbiology from the University of New Hampshire.