Polaris Partners

Alexandra Cantley is a managing partner at Polaris Partners, which she joined in 2019, working from the New York office with a focus on early-stage biotech and healthcare investments. Before Polaris, she was part of the initial research team at Inzen Therapeutics and previously held a research fellowship at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. She holds a PhD in Chemical Biology from Harvard University and completed her undergraduate studies at New York University.

Amir Nashat is an entrepreneur partner at Polaris Partners in Boston, where he invests in healthcare companies and takes on executive roles inside portfolio companies. He joined the firm in 2002 and serves as a managing partner of Polaris Funds VI through IX. He has repeatedly stepped in as CEO of Polaris-backed startups, including Dewpoint Therapeutics, Jnana, Living Proof, Olivo Labs, Paratus Sciences, and Sun Catalytix, and is currently CEO of Souffle Therapeutics. He earned a doctorate in chemical engineering at MIT under Robert Langer and holds materials science and mechanical engineering degrees from UC Berkeley, and was named to the Forbes Midas List in 2016.

Brian Chee is a managing partner at Polaris Partners in San Francisco who invests in healthcare companies. He joined Polaris as an associate in Boston shortly after the firm's founding in 1996, and previously worked at Goldman Sachs in New York and San Francisco and at Baxter Healthcare, where he developed experience across medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology. He holds a BS from the United States Military Academy at West Point and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, and served as a Captain in the US Army Corps of Engineers.

Dave Barrett is a senior advisory partner in Polaris Partners' Boston office who focuses on healthcare technology. He joined Polaris in 2000 after an operating career that included serving as COO of Calico, SVP of worldwide operations at Pure Atria/Rational Software, and various leadership roles over 12 years at Lotus Development. He also serves as a managing partner of Polaris Funds VI-IX and the Polaris Healthcare Technology Opportunities Fund, with particular interest in AI and ML platforms for care management.

Ellie McGuire is a managing partner in Polaris Partners' Boston office and manages the Polaris Innovation Fund, which she co-founded. Before Polaris, she was head of business development at Lyndra and held leadership and consulting roles in business development, operations, and strategy at life science companies including Arsia Therapeutics, SQZ Biotechnologies, and XTuit Pharmaceuticals. She also serves as an expert in residence for the Harvard Office of Technology Development.

Gary Swart is an operating partner at Polaris Partners in San Francisco, where he invests in healthcare services and products. He previously served as CEO of oDesk (later Upwork), which merged with Elance, and earlier held roles as Chief Revenue Officer of Intellibank and a business unit executive at IBM following its acquisition of Rational Software. He also mentors at accelerators including Alchemist and StartX.

Brian Lewis joined Polaris in 2019 as director of legal and investment analytics in the firm's San Francisco office, where he handles investment analytics projects along with legal operations and deal matters. He previously worked at Latham & Watkins LLP, first as a senior paralegal and then as a quantitative analysis manager in the corporate department, supporting financial and capitalization modeling for equity financings, acquisitions, and IPOs. He holds a BS in Mathematics from UCLA, a paralegal certification from San Francisco State University, and an MBA from UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business.

Harold Friedman serves as Chief Financial Officer at Polaris Partners. He has experience managing financial operations for venture capital and private equity firms with assets ranging from $200 million to $4.5 billion, and works with managing directors, limited partners, and external service providers.

Lauren Crockett is general counsel and chief compliance officer at Polaris Partners, which she joined in 2019, handling legal, compliance, and operational matters including fundraising, fund management, and deal structuring. She previously served as assistant general counsel at LendingClub Corporation and was a corporate associate at Latham & Watkins, and earlier held legal and government affairs roles at Bain Capital. She holds a JD from Harvard Law School and a BA in history from Dartmouth College.

Maureen St. Pierre joined Polaris Partners in 2002 as a portfolio analyst supporting the finance and investor relations teams. Before Polaris, she worked in auditing, budget and cost accounting, and investment pension financial management at John Hancock Financial Services. She holds a BS in Finance from Siena College and an MBA from Babson College.