Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC

Rowan Chapman is co-founder at BEVC and serves as an entrepreneur, investor, and board member. With experience spanning startups to Fortune 50 companies, Chapman has executed numerous transactions in therapeutics, digital health, research tools, diagnostics, vaccines, and medical devices, and maintains expertise in team building, business planning, equity investing, M&A, and LP relations. Chapman holds NACD Directorship Certification.

Experienced HealthTech investor who was previously a partner at Accelmed leading VC and PE investments in Israel and the US. Trained as a biotechnology engineer at the Technion and holds an MBA from Tel Aviv University.

Ahryon Cho is Associate Director, Global Campaigns & Audience Engagement at Johnson & Johnson. Cho's experience spans lifecycle and email marketing, CRM, marketing operations, customer service, and events.

Aurelie Gaudin is a venture investor at JJDC, the venture capital arm of Johnson & Johnson, and a founding partner at Almeda Ventures. She has 15 years of experience in venture capital and private equity investments across medical devices and digital health. Gaudin serves as a board member at several HealthTech companies in Israel and the United States.

Chelsea Hewitt is Senior Director, Regional Engagement & Incubation at Johnson & Johnson in San Diego, where she leads Scientific Engagement & Incubation for the company's External Scientific Innovation group in La Jolla, sourcing and developing partnerships with early-stage life science companies. Her earlier experience includes helping establish a tech incubator at a London-based private equity firm, advising founders as a management consultant, developing executive education at UC Berkeley Haas, and serving as a founding team member of JLABS. She completed executive leadership training at UC Berkeley and is a certified Dare to Lead facilitator.

Elena Diez Cecilia is Senior Director of External Innovation, DPDS, at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicines. She holds a Ph.D. in Drug Discovery and an MBA, and completed Leadership and Communication training at Harvard. Her career spans over ten years across Johnson & Johnson, biotech start-ups, and a venture capital firm in the United States, Canada, and Europe, with work in External Innovation across oncology, immunology, neuroscience, and cardiovascular-metabolic therapeutic areas, as well as business development.

Emma Fox is Co-Founder at Thunderhawk Technology Partners and Managing Partner of the IAN Fund. Her experience spans strategy, operations, and M&A, including managing and scaling companies in the IT services and energy sectors. She has worked with multiple startup teams, two of which were acquired by public companies in Europe and the United States, and a third by a private company in the United States.

Juan Cueva is Senior Director of Early Innovation Partnering at Johnson & Johnson Innovation's California Innovation Center in San Francisco, where he works on pharmaceutical innovation across neuroscience and discovery and product development, negotiating licensing, collaboration, and investment deals. He previously served as Investor and Board Observer at Action Potential Venture Capital, focusing on bioelectronic therapeutic technologies, and held roles in venture capital, management consulting, and business development at Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals. He also mentors underrepresented students in STEM.

Julia Huettner Pumar is Vice President, Oncology Scientific Innovation at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine. She has 14 years of experience in pre-clinical and clinical oncology research across academia, biotech, and pharmaceutical settings, and has served as project leader on early development programs including VS-5584 and Pacritinib. Her work has included leading cellular assay and biomarker teams, conducting scientific scouting and technical due diligence, and defining research strategy.

Sanjay Mistry is Vice President of Venture Investments and New Company Creation at Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC Inc., where he leads the identification and funding of early-stage healthcare companies. He serves as Director on the Board of Agni Bio and has held board positions at TRex Bio and Abdera Therapeutics, as well as prior board roles at companies including Manifest Technologies, Rapport Therapeutics, RainDance Technologies, and Rapid Micro Biosystems. His background includes involvement in the formation of multiple biotech companies, including Provention Bio, Fusion Pharmaceuticals, and Aro Therapeutics, and he holds training in clinical pharmacology with 20 peer-reviewed publications and over 200 issued patents.

Sharon Chan is Vice President of JLABS Asia Pacific at Johnson & Johnson. She has more than 23 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, with work spanning London, Japan, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Singapore, focused on strategic partnerships and cross-disciplinary collaborations in R&D.

Member of the Investment Advisory Committee; Regional Head at Johnson & Johnson Innovation, West North America.

Stefan Hart is Vice President, Oncology Scientific Innovation at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine, with 14 years of experience across pre-clinical and clinical research. He has served as project leader in oncology discovery and early development, including work on VS-5584 and Pacritinib, and has additional experience in ophthalmology and inflammation. His responsibilities have included leading cellular assay and biomarker teams, conducting scientific scouting and technical due diligence, defining research strategy, and managing project budgets and milestones across academic, biotech, and pharmaceutical settings.

Tamir Meiri is Principal, Venture Investments at Johnson & Johnson Innovation - JJDC, Inc., where he supports the investment process across Israel and Europe, coordinating with JJDC and J&J stakeholders on transactions in the company's sectors. His focus areas include medical devices, digital technologies, and consumer products. He holds a B.Sc. in Chemistry from Tel-Aviv University and an MBA with a concentration in finance from the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, and has a background in bio-medical engineering and entrepreneurship.

V. Kadir Kadhiresan is Vice President of Venture Investments at Johnson and Johnson Development Corporation. He brings over 25 years of senior leadership experience in healthcare, with background spanning venture capital, corporate business development, strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, and global product development.

Xinpei He is Director of Global Digital Engagement and Brand at Johnson & Johnson. Her background spans marketing and communications across startup incubators, corporate communication, and business development, including developing marketing and communications strategies for large companies and launching processes and initiatives such as incubators and toolkits.

Asha Nayak is a physician and venture capitalist who serves as Global Head and Corporate Vice President of Consumer Health Investments at Johnson & Johnson Innovation, where she has grown the venture portfolio to 22 companies and facilitated multiple partnerships and acquisitions. She has held senior positions at Intel and Medtronic in product development and authored over 20 issued patents in cardiac devices, drug-delivery systems, and genomic analytics platforms. Nayak maintains an active medical practice and has served on 17 corporate boards overseeing companies developing innovations in cardiology, psychiatry, allergy prevention, addiction treatment, and personalized medicine.

Chris Picariello is President of Johnson & Johnson Innovation - JJDC, Inc. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from LaSalle University and began his career at Johnson & Johnson through the Finance Leadership Development Program, advancing through various finance roles across multiple sectors within the company.

Elizabeth Wu is a Senior Director of External Scientific Innovation Transactions at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine. She has over ten years of experience in healthcare and consumer health, working on partnerships and investments in early-stage biopharma companies to support the development of innovative technologies and business models.

Paul Stoffels served as Chief Scientific Officer at Johnson & Johnson, where he oversaw global R&D and the launch of 25 innovative medicines, including 10 in oncology. He co-founded Galapagos NV, serving as CEO and Chair before transitioning to an advisory role focused on cell therapy development and manufacturing platforms. Stoffels holds medical degrees from the University of Diepenbeek and University of Antwerp, with additional training in infectious diseases and tropical medicine, and began his career as a physician conducting HIV and tropical disease research in Africa.