Mark Kessel
Mr. Kessel co-founded Symphony in 2002 and is widely recognized as the leader in structuring product development investments for the biopharmaceutical industry. Mr. Kessel was formerly the Managing Partner of Shearman & Sterling, with day-to-day operating responsibility for this large international law firm. He received a B.A. with honors in Economics from the City College of New York and a J.D. magna cum laude from Syracuse University College of Law. Mr. Kessel is a director and Chairman of Symphony Icon, Inc., a director of Symphony Dynamo, Inc. and a member of the Development Committee of Symphony Evolution, Inc., all Symphony portfolio companies. In addition, Mr. Kessel is a director of the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development, a director of Fondation Santé and is a member of the Emerging Companies Section of the Biotechnology Industry Organization. Mr. Kessel has written on financing for the biotech industry for Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, Nature Biotechnology and other publications, and on issues related to governance and audit committees for such publications as The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Deal and Euromoney.
Jeffrey S. Edelman
Mr. Edelman co-founded Symphony in 2002 and has more than 15 years of experience as a manager and strategic advisor to investors and management teams in the healthcare industry. Prior to Symphony, Mr. Edelman was a Principal at Wilkerson Partners, after having served as Director of Corporate Strategy at SelfCare, and as a management consultant with L.E.K. Consulting and McKinsey & Company. Mr. Edelman began his career as an investment banker in the healthcare group at Alex. Brown & Sons. He received an M.B.A. in Healthcare and Strategic Management from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was awarded a Kaiser Foundation Scholarship. He received his B.A. in Economics with high honors from Dartmouth College, where he was awarded the Lewis H. Haney Prize for his honors thesis. Mr. Edelman is a director of Symphony Icon, Inc., one of Symphony’s portfolio companies.
Arthur T. Sands, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Sands co-founded Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and has been the company’s president and chief executive officer and a director since September 1995. At Lexicon, Dr. Sands pioneered the development of large-scale gene knockout technology for use in drug discovery. Before founding Lexicon, Dr. Sands served as an American Cancer Society postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Sands is a member of the board of directors of the Texas Institute for Genomic Medicine. He received his B.A. in economics and political science from Yale University and his M.D. and Ph.D. from Baylor College of Medicine.
Steven H. Ferris, Ph.D.
Steven H. Ferris, Ph.D., is the Friedman Professor and Director of the NIA supported Alzheimer Disease Center at New York University (NYU) School of Medicine and Executive Director of the Aging and Dementia Research Center of NYU’s Silberstein Institute. He is has been studying brain aging and Alzheimer disease for more than three decades and is a neuropsychologist, psychopharmacologist, and gerontologist.
Dr. Ferris has expanded initial research that evaluated pharmacologic treatments for Alzheimer disease into a comprehensive, multidisciplinary research center studying cognitive decline in aging and dementia. Dr. Ferris has now contributed more than 250 scientific publications to the field. Current research interests include clinical trials in brain aging, mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer Disease, the development of improved diagnostic and outcome measures, particularly neuropsychological techniques for early diagnosis, and the study of psychosocial methods for improving the well-being of Alzheimer caregivers. During the past decade he has contributed to the recognition of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) as a very early stage of Alzheimer disease and as an important target for early treatment. He has also focused on the assessment and treatment of brain aging and age-associated memory impairment (AAMI). He is currently directing a national, NIH consortium study designed to improve the efficiency of primary prevention trials for Alzheimer disease.
Dr. Ferris formerly served as the Associate Editor in Chief of Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders, has served on several NIH peer review panels, has been a member of the FDA Advisory Committee that reviews new drugs for Alzheimer disease, and is currently a member of the Medical and Scientific Affairs Council of the Alzheimer’s Association.
Douglas A. Drossman, MD
Dr. Drossman is Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry at the UNC School of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology and Co-Director of the UNC Center for Functional GI & Motility Disorders. He has had a long-standing interest in the research and evaluation of difficult to diagnose and treat GI disorders. He established a program of research in functional GI disorders at UNC more than 25 years ago and has published more than 400 books, articles and abstracts relating to epidemiology, psychosocial and quality of life assessment, design of treatment trials, and outcomes of research in GI disorders. He has also published two books, a GI procedures manual, and a textbook on Functional GI Disorders (Rome I, Rome II and Rome III). In addition, he serves on six editorial boards in medicine, gastroenterology and psychosomatic medicine, was associate editor of Gastroenterology and GI section editor of the Merck manual, and is currently editor of Digestive Health Matters published by IFFGD as well as the newsletter of the Functional Brain-Gut Research Group.
Dr. Drossman received his MD degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1970, and completed his medical residency at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and New York University-Bellevue Medical Center. After his residency, he sub-specialized in psychosocial (psychosomatic) medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine under the mentorship of Dr. George Engel from 1975 to 1976 and in gastroenterology at the University of North Carolina in from 1976 to 1978.
Dr. Drossman has been involved in several national and international activities which include President of the Rome Foundation and Scientific Director and member of the Board of the International Foundation for Functional GI Disorders (IFFGD). He is a past president of the American Psychosomatic Society, immediate past Chair of the AGA Council on Motility and Nerve-Gut Interactions, and Founder/Past President of the Functional Brain-Gut Research Group of AGA. He is an AGA Fellow and serves on the AGA Media Committee, AGA Nominating Committee, and the AGA Research Awards Panel. Dr. Drossman is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and a Master of the American College of Gastroenterology. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Gulf War and Health: Physiologic, Psychologic and Psychosocial Effects of Deployment Related Stress. He has been an Ad Hoc Advisory Board member of the NIH National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), and is currently serving on the NIH (NIDDK) Functional GI and Motility Disorders Working Group.
