Board of Directors | Tyra Biosciences, Inc.

Todd Harris

Chief Executive Officer

Todd Harris

Chief Executive Officer

Todd Harris is Chief Executive Officer of Tyra which he co-founded in August 2018. Prior to co-founding Tyra, Todd co-founded Sienna Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (SNNA) a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company where he was Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors. Todd started his career at as a consultant at McKinsey & Company in the Health Care Practice Division. Todd currently serves on the board of directors of Primmune Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the second arm, innate immune system. Todd holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Brigham Young, a M.S. in Bioengineering from the University of California, San Diego, and a Ph.D. in Medical Engineering and Medical Physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Gilla Kaplan

Board Member

Gilla Kaplan

Board Member

Gilla Kaplan, Ph.D. is the Chief Executive Officer of Gilrose Therapeutics and a Senior Advisor of Medicine Development for Global Health. Before Gilrose, Dr. Kaplan was Senior Advisor at the Bill and Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute (Gates MRI) and the Director of the Global Health Program, Tuberculosis of the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation (BMGF). She has spent her career as an academic research scientist leading a laboratory in investigations focusing on human disease, exploring novel experimental medicine approaches that modulate the immune response for disease control. She was a recipient of multiple grants from the NIH-NIAID and other funding organizations for her research. Dr. Kaplan currently serves on the board of directors of Cerecor. She previously served on the board of directors at Celgene for 20 years. Dr. Kaplan received a Bachelor of Science degree from Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel and a Master of Science and Ph.D. in Cellular Immunology from University of Tromso, Norway.

Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
Member of the Science and Technology Committee
Jake Simson

Board Member

Jake Simson

Board Member

Jake Simson, Ph.D. is a Partner at RA Capital Management, a multi-stage investment manager dedicated to evidence-based investing in healthcare and life science companies developing drugs, medical devices, and diagnostics. Dr. Simson works on both public and private investments and serves as a Board Director for Xenikos, B.V, Janux, AavantiBio, and DiCE Molecules. He holds a B.S. in materials science and engineering from MIT and a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Johns Hopkins University. In his doctoral research, he investigated clinically translatable treatments for musculoskeletal tissue repair using injectable hydrogels.

Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
Chair of the Science and Technology Committee
Melissa McCracken

Board Member

Melissa McCracken

Board Member

Melissa McCracken, Ph.D., is a Principal at Nextech Invest Ltd., where she manages investments in companies pursuing emerging cancer therapies. Dr. McCracken currently serves as a board observer of IconOvir, and previously served as a board member of ImaginAb and a board observer of Silverback Therapeutics. Prior to Nextech, she was a senior associate at Third Rock Ventures. Prior to that, Dr. McCracken completed multiple internships in research and development at Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN). She holds a B.S. in biochemistry and molecular biology from University of California, Davis, and a Ph.D. in molecular and medical pharmacology from University of California, Los Angeles, where her research focused on engineered immunity for cancer. She also completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University where her research focused on immuno-oncology.

Member of the Audit Committee
Member of the Science and Technology Committee
Nina Kjellson

Nina Kjellson

Nina Kjellson is a General Partner at Canaan. Nina invests in biopharma and digital health companies that serve unmet therapeutic and access needs. As a leader of Canaan’s Women of Venture program, Nina is a vocal advocate for women entrepreneurs and investors. She serves as a mentor to Blueprint Health and Springboard Life Sciences and on the boards of Essential Access Health, the California Leadership Council for The Nature Conservancy and the Oliver Wyman Health Innovation Center. Nina is also a 2018 Aspen Institute Health Innovators Fellow. Previously, Nina was a General Partner at Interwest Partners. She holds a B.A. in human biology from Stanford University.

Chair of the Compensation Committee
Rehan Verjee

Board Member

Rehan Verjee

Board Member

Rehan Verjee served as President of EMD Serono and Global Head of the Innovative Medicine Franchises for Merck KGaA until March 2021. At Merck KGaA Rehan led the North American biopharmaceutical business across the U.S. and Canada in addition to leading the global oncology and neurology & immunology specialty medicine franchises for the healthcare business. Prior to this role, he served as Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer, leading the global franchises of oncology, neurology & immunology, and infertility, in addition to global business development, market access, strategy and portfolio management, marketing operations and the medical device and services unit. Prior to this, he led the Canadian operations as Managing Director of EMD Serono Canada. Rehan is currently a member of the board of directors of Massachusetts Biotechnology Council. He holds a master’s degree in Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry from the University of Oxford in the U.K.

Chair of the Audit Committee
Robert More

Board Member

Robert More

Board Member

Robert More is a Managing Director at Alta Partners, a healthcare focused venture capital firm. Bob currently manages investments in and serves on the board of Affinivax, eGenesis, Qihan Biopharmaceuticals, and Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR). He was a founding board member of the Kauffman Fellows Program and is on the board of BIO (Biotechnology Innovation Organization). Before joining Alta, Bob was a Senior Advisor for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Prior to that, Bob spent 5 years as a General Partner at Frazier Healthcare Ventures and 13 years at Domain Associates. He received his B.A. from Middlebury College and an M.B.A. from the Darden School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia.

Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
Member of the Audit Committee
S. Michael Rothenberg

Board Member

S. Michael Rothenberg

Board Member

Dr. Rothenberg is a trained oncologist who brings two decades of clinical care and drug development experience across multiple therapeutic modalities to the TYRA board spanning target identification through approval. Dr. Rothenberg currently serves as the Chief Medical Officer of insitro, a machine learning-powered drug discovery and development company, where he leads all aspects of clinical development. Prior to insitro, he was vice president of early oncology development and clinical research at Pfizer, where he oversaw Pfizer's oncology and hematology early clinical development portfolio, advancing more than 20 first-in-patient clinical trials, including supervising elranatamab (Elrexfio™, a bispecific antibody) through the first-in-human trial to human proof-of-concept. Prior to Pfizer, he was Vice President of Research and Development at Loxo Oncology, where he led early clinical development for novel, targeted anticancer therapies, including the approved RET inhibitor RETEVMO® (selpercatinib). He previously served as a medical oncologist and researcher focused on targeted therapeutics at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Rothenberg received his B.A. from Yale University and his M.D. and Ph.D. from Stanford University.

Member of the Science and Technology Committee
Susan Moran

Board Member

Susan Moran

Board Member

Dr. Moran has over 20 years of industry and academic experience, successfully leading clinical trials from Phase 1 to Phase 3, as well as overseeing NDA and MAA submissions for various investigational products, including the successful approval of Nerlynx. Dr. Moran most recently served as the Chief Medical Officer of RayzeBio, a clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical therapeutics company (acquired by Bristol Meyers Squibb in February 2024). Prior to RayzeBio, she was Chief Medical Officer of QED Therapeutics, an affiliate of BridgeBio Pharma, where she oversaw the clinical development of infigratinib, leading to approval of Truseltiq. Before QED, Dr. Moran was VP and Head of Clinical Development at Puma Biotechnology and previously held senior positions at Takeda (previously Millennium) and Sanofi (former Genzyme). Dr. Moran has played roles in the development, registration, and post-marketing support of products for a number of solid tumors, including bile duct, urothelial, and liver cancer, among others, as well as multiple sclerosis, achondroplasia, and other disorders. She is a board-certified internist and has served on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Moran received her B.A. from the University of Virginia, M.D. from Duke University, and M.S. in Clinical Epidemiology from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Dr. Moran currently serves on the board of directors of BioAtla, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company.

Member of the Compensation Committee
Member of the Science and Technology Committee