Dr. Emmett Cunningham, co-founded Eyconis, Inc., a spinout of Ascendis Pharma (NASDAQ; ASND), in 2023 and has served as Executive Chair since inception.

Dr. Emmett Cunningham has been a full-time entrepreneur and investor for more than 20 years. Dr. Cunningham joined HealthQuest Capital Management as a Senior Partner in 2023. Prior to 2023, he served as a Senior Managing Director at Blackstone Life Sciences group (BXLS) of Blackstone, Inc. (BX), joining that company through the acquisition of Clarus Ventures in 2018, where he was a member of the full-time investment team since that firm’s inception in 2006. Emmett has led or co-led investments in medical technology and biotechnology that have supported FDA approval for ten therapeutics with one additional therapeutic pending FDA submission. Prior to investing, his previous roles included Senior Vice President, Medical Strategy at Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he was a key member of the leadership team responsible for the development of Macugen® (pegaptanib sodium), a pioneering, first-in-class VEGF-A inhibitor for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema. Emmett's extensive experience and leadership have been recognized further through his role as the founder and chairman of the Ophthalmology Innovation Summit (OIS) symposium for more than a decade.

Emmett currently serves on the Board of Galera Therapeutics and Nacuity Pharmaceuticals, and previously held positions on the boards of SARcode Biosciences (acquired by Shire), Neomend (acquired by Bard), Restoration Robotics (acquired by Venus Concept), Annexon Biosciences (ANNX), GrayBug Vision (GRAY), Lumos Pharma (LUMO), SFJ Pharmaceutical Group, Viewpoint Therapeutics, and Silktech Biopharmaceuticals. Additionally, he has played instrumental roles as a co-founder and personal seed investor in several companies, including Xeris Biopharma Holdings (XERS), Aiolos Bio (acquired by GSK), Placid0 (acquired by WALDO), and Pr3vent Medical. He serves as Innovator in Residence for Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures (JHTV); as a member of the Biomedical Engineering Advisory Board at Johns Hopkins University; is an advisor to the Byers Center for BioDesign at Stanford University. Emmett’s dedication to philanthropic endeavors is evident through his service on the Boards of The Alta Foundation and EverythingALS, contributing to meaningful unmet needs within the healthcare community.

Emmett earned his MD and MPH in epidemiology and statistics from Johns Hopkins University and holds a PhD in neuroscience from the University of California at San Diego for research conducted at The Salk Institute. He completed residency in ophthalmology and fellowship training in Corneal Disease and Uveitis at UCSF and The Francis I. Proctor Foundation, a medical retina and uveitis fellowship at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, and a fellowship in public health ophthalmology with Prof. Alfred Sommer at the Wilmer Eye Institute in Baltimore. In addition to his professional commitments, Emmett is actively involved in teaching and holds positions as an Adjunct Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at California Pacific Medical Center and Stanford University, as well as a Research Associate at The Francis I. Proctor Foundation, UCSF School of Medicine. He has co-authored over 400 papers related to his clinical and research efforts.

Dan Estes is a General Partner with Frazier Life Sciences, a healthcare investment firm focused on creating and investing in biopharmaceutical companies developing novel therapeutics. He focuses on early-stage private investments including company formation and has led Frazier Life Sciences’ investments in companies such as Arcutis (ARQT), Lengo (M&A by Blueprint), Sierra Oncology (M&A by GSK), Tarsus (TARS), Semnur (M&A by Scilex), Radionetics, Sudo Bio, Bluejay, and Hummingbird.  He has also been involved with Frazier Life Sciences’ investments in Acerta (M&A by AZ), Vaxcyte (PCVX), Ignyta (M&A by Roche), Tobira (M&A by Allergan), and Precision Dermatology (M&A by Valeant).  Prior to joining Frazier Life Sciences, Dan was a management consultant with McKinsey & Company’s global pharmaceuticals practice. He received his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Michigan and holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.

Jan Møller Mikkelsen founded Ascendis Pharma in 2007 and has served as President and Chief Executive Officer, as well as Board member since then. From 2002 to 2006, Mr. Mikkelsen was President and Chief Executive Officer of LifeCycle Pharma A/S (now Veloxis Pharmaceuticals A/S). From 2000 to 2002, Mr. Mikkelsen was President of the Pharmaceutical Division of Maxygen, Inc. Prior to that, Mr. Mikkelsen co-founded ProFound Pharma A/S (a biopharmaceutical company acquired by Maxygen, Inc.), where he served as Co-Chief Executive Officer from 1999 to 2000. From 1988 to 1999, Mr. Mikkelsen held various positions at Novo Nordisk A/S, a global healthcare company, including Vice President of Protein Discovery. In late 2021, Mr. Mikkelsen was named Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hummingbird Bioscience, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on cancer and autoimmune disease. He received a Cand. Scient. degree in Biochemistry from the University of Odense, Denmark and pursued his post-doctoral research at Children’s Hospital Oakland in Oakland, California, U.S.

Anna is a Principal at Frazier Life Sciences, where she focuses on private investments and company creation. She co-led Frazier’s investments in and currently serves on the boards of Eyconis and Blue Water Bio. She is currently a board observer at Inipharm, Attovia Therapeutics, Architect Therapeutics, and Diagonal Therapeutics. Anna has also been involved in Frazier’s investments in Amunix Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Sanofi), Lengo Therapeutics (acquired by Blueprint Medicines), SanReno Therapeutics (acquired by Novartis), and HilleVax (NASDAQ: HLVX).

Prior to joining Frazier, Anna was a management consultant in L.E.K. Consulting’s life sciences practice and an entrepreneurial fellow at Flagship Pioneering. Anna received her PhD in Systems Biology from Harvard University, where she was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. Anna also holds an AB in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard College.

Yvonne Yamanaka, PhD, is a Principal at venBio Partners with a background in biological engineering and life science company creation. Prior to joining venBio, Yvonne was a member of the venture creation team at Flagship Pioneering. She began her research career leading the development of a novel immunotherapy technology at EMD/Merck Serono. Yvonne received her PhD in Biological Engineering from MIT, where she was a Siebel Scholar and NSF Graduate Research Fellow, and her BSE in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University, where she was an Angier B. Duke and Goldwater scholar.

Conrad joined HealthQuest in 2023 as a Partner focused on the Tactical Opportunities Fund. Conrad has nearly two decades of healthcare investing experience, ranging from seed investing and company formation to structured growth capital for commercial stage companies. He has been an investor at OrbiMed, Healthcare Royalty Partners, and Three Arch Partners. He has also led corporate development teams at Medtronic.  Conrad earned his BS from MIT, MD from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) at Harvard Medical School, and MBA from Harvard Business School.

Aaron Royston, MD, MBA is a Managing Partner at venBio with a background in life science investing, healthcare strategy, and as an entrepreneur. He has helped to launch, invest, and serve on the board of a number of biotech companies including Apellis Pharmaceuticals (IPO 2017), Menlo Therapeutics (IPO 2018), Akero Therapeutics (IPO 2019), Harmony Biosciences (IPO 2020), Ventyx BioSciences (IPO 2021), RayzeBio (IPO 2023, acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb), Ablaze Pharmaceuticals, 35Pharma, and Attovia Therapeutics. These companies have developed six FDA-approved treatments that are now available to patients with conditions ranging from rare, genetic diseases to the most common form of age-related blindness.

Prior to joining venBio, Dr. Royston was a member of the investment team at Vivo Capital, a life science venture capital firm. Previously, he worked at Bain & Company, where he advised biotechnology companies on a range of strategic and operational issues. Earlier in his career, he coordinated clinical research at Mount Sinai Medical Center, where his research has been published and presented in multiple medical journals and conferences. Dr. Royston received his BS in biological sciences from Duke University, and his MD, and MBA degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Mark Bachleda joined Eyconis, Inc. as Chief Executive Officer and Board Director in June 2024.

Dr. Bachleda has served in executive leadership roles at Amgen, Juno Therapeutics, and Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), and most recently he was Chief Commercial Officer at Galera Therapeutics. Prior to joining Galera, he served as Vice President & U.S. Business Unit Head of the CAR T cell therapy franchise at BMS, a role he held previously at Celgene Corporation before its acquisition by BMS for $74 billion in 2019. Prior to this, he was Vice President, Sales & Account Management at Juno when it was acquired by Celgene for $9 billion in 2018. Previously, he had a 15-year career at Amgen in U.S. and international roles of increasing responsibility up to Country President & General Manager of Amgen Czech Republic. Earlier in his career, he held positions at Pfizer, Inc., and Johnson & Johnson. Dr. Bachleda is a registered pharmacist and received his PharmD degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship in health policy and economics at Thomas Jefferson University and earned MBA degrees from both Columbia University and the University of California, Berkeley.