ElevAAte Biotech

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Listen to conversations among East Asian American leaders as they share insights about the biopharma industry and stories about their path to the top. This podcast is a production of the non-profit ElevAAte, which works to advance East Asian Americans in the biotech and pharma industries. Find out more about us by going to ElevAAte.org.

Episodes

  1. 06/19/2025

    Biotech Boards: How to Be in the Room Where It Happens

    Joining a board can amplify your leadership, shape company strategy, and open doors to the highest levels of influence in biotech. It can also make you a better executive. But what does it take to get there? And how do you make a difference once you’re there? Lorence Kim, managing partner at Ascenta Capital, led a conversation with Carole Ho, CMO of Denali Therapeutics, and David Chun, CEO of Equilar, an executive intelligence firm that specializes in board assessment and recruitment. They shared their board experience and tackled the practical and personal questions many rising leaders ask, including how to make sure you’re not just in the room—but delivering real value. About the speakers Carole Ho is the Chief Medical Officer and Head of Development at Denali Therapeutics, which she joined after several years at Genentech where she was most recently VP of clinical development. She began her industry career at JNJ and prior to that, Carole completed a neurology residency at Harvard Medical School and was on faculty in Stanford's neurology department. Carole currently serves on the boards of Beam Therapeutics and NGM Bio. Her parents moved from China to Illinois, where she was born and raised. She lives in the Bay Area with her husband and three children. David Chun has led Equilar since its inception to become one of the most trusted names in the corporate governance community. He is on Nasdaq’s Center for Board Excellence Advisory Board and the Advisory Council of the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation. Prior to founding Equilar, David was an investment banking VP at Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette and a consultant with Bain & Company. David was born in Korea and came to the US when he was 7 months old. He lives in the Bay Area. Lorence Kim co-founded biotech venture firm Ascenta Capital. He served as the chief financial officer of Moderna from 2014 to 2020, raising billions for the company and deploying resources to discover and advance its pipeline of 24 mRNA programs, including its Covid-19 vaccine. Lorence was previously an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, where he was a managing director and co-head of the US biotech banking effort. He serves on the boards of Cencora, Revolution Medicines and the American Red Cross, and previously served on the boards of Cowen and Seres Therapeutics, in addition to a number of private companies. His family immigrated from Korea to a small town east of Pittsburgh where he grew up. He now lives in New York City.

  2. 06/06/2025

    Being an Asian Woman Leader: The Myth of Meek Mei-Mei's and Dreaded Dragon Ladies

    East Asian American women often face a double bind: be too quiet, and you're overlooked; be too bold, and you're vilified. Biotech CEOs, Pearl Huang, Aetna Wun Trombley and Angie You, reflect on their career journey and how cultural norms and perspectives shaped their experience. Hear stories about learning to speak up and lead with authenticity. About the speakers Pearl Huang is the CEO of Dunad Therapeutics, which is developing highly selective small molecule covalent therapies for CNS diseases. She has more than 30 years of experience, having held key roles at Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, and Roche, and has contributed at the discovery stage to 9 molecules that have become medicines. She was also a co-founder and the founding chief scientific officer of BeiGene, now BeOne. Aetna Wun Trombley is the CEO of Lycia Therapeutics, a company harnessing lysosomal targeting to clear disease-causing extracellular proteins. Prior to Lycia, Aetna was the president and chief operating officer of NGM Biopharmaceuticals where she established multiple strategic partnerships and a successful initial public offering in 2019. Previously, she served as chief of staff for the CEO of Novartis. Angie You is the CEO of Architect Therapeutics, a small molecule drug discovery company focused on developing breakthrough therapies in oncology and immunology. She has been a C-suite member of several biotech companies, including as CEO of Amunix Pharmaceuticals, where she orchestrated a sale of the company to Sanofi for over $1.2 billion.

  3. 05/27/2025

    How to Get Biotech Investors in a Tough Market

    Raising capital is never easy — and in this market, it’s brutal for biotech. So what are investors looking for right now? And how can you build relationships long before your financing effort? Seasoned biotech investors, Michele Park of NEA, Bong Koh of Venrock, and Chen Yu of TCGX shared their insights from their experience of refining strategies and weathering market shifts. About the speakers Michele joined NEA in 2021. She serves on several boards including Abcuro, a clinical-stage company developing a first-in-class KLRG1-targeting antibody for Inclusion Body Myositis (IBM), where she led its recent Series C financing of $200 million. She was previously an investor at Clarus Ventures (now Blackstone Life Sciences). Bong works predominantly on Venrock’s public and cross-over biotech fund, Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners. With over 20 years of investment experience, he has led the financing for numerous biotech companies and served on the board of directors for Artiva Biotherapeutics, AveXis (acquired by Novartis for $8.7 billion) and RayzeBio (acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb for $4.1 billion). Chen is the founder and managing partner at TCGX, a healthcare investment firm. Prior to TCGX, Chen spent sixteen years as a managing partner at Vivo Capital, a life sciences focused investor with $4.5 billion assets under management. He 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.

  4. 02/21/2025

    Our Paths to Becoming Biotech CEOs: Soy Sauce, McKinsey & Friendship

    Angie You of Architect Therapeutics, Ken Song of Candid Therapeutics and Tao Fu of Attovia Therapeutics talk about their journey to becoming founders and CEOs, and answer audience questions. All three have led successful biotech companies: Angie was the CEO of Amunix Pharmaceuticals, an immuno-oncology company, which was acquired by Sanofi for $1.2 billion. RayzeBio, a radiopharmaceuticals company that Ken led, was bought by BMS for $4.1 billion. Before founding Attovia as its CEO, Tao helped build Zai Lab as President and COO. Listen to hear how very different phenotypes and paths could lead you to the CEO seat.

  • 4 Episodes

About

Listen to conversations among East Asian American leaders as they share insights about the biopharma industry and stories about their path to the top. This podcast is a production of the non-profit ElevAAte, which works to advance East Asian Americans in the biotech and pharma industries. Find out more about us by going to ElevAAte.org.

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