Stephen Abreu
Board Member
Partner, Sidley Austin LLP
Raised in a single parent household, Stephen grew up in the small town of Escondido in Southern California. He is of Latino descent: His mother is from Puerto Rico, and his father from the Dominican Republic. He attended UC Santa Cruz for his undergraduate and graduate degrees in molecular biology and UC Davis for law school. Like many of our constituency in BLOC, he worked throughout his undergraduate career to put himself through school and is the first in his family to attend college and law school.
Stephen is a partner in Sidley Austin LLP’s San Francisco Office. He focuses on structuring and negotiating complex intellectual property and commercial transactions for life sciences companies, including strategic collaborations, cross-border transactions, and co-development, license and manufacturing agreements. Stephen leverages both his graduate training as a molecular biologist and his experience leading monoclonal antibody research and development programs in advising his clients on their transactional and business matters. Stephen brings a creative and thoughtful approach to addressing the needs of his clients.
Jackie Grant
Board Member
Partner, Abingworth
Jackie has over 15 years of life sciences experience, including science, research, business development and venture investing. She joined Abingworth in November 2018 and works with the team in the Boston, London and Menlo Park offices to source and evaluate new opportunities and support existing venture investments. Jackie is active in our company creation efforts and is responsible for a number of emerging newcos currently in stealth mode. Jackie represents Abingworth on the boards of Atsena, Glycomine and Nido and is an observer on the board of Anjarium.
Previously, Jackie was a Senior Associate at SVHealth Investors. She was formerly in the Business Development Group at Genentech with primary responsibility for partnering activities in neuroscience. Her transactions span a broad spectrum of deal structures and therapeutic areas, including technology and platform in-licenses, asset out-licenses and research collaborations. Jackie has a PhD in Neuroscience from Stanford School of Medicine and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.
José Juves
Board Member
Head of Corporate & Patient Affairs, X4 Pharmaceuticals
José Juves is a biotechnology corporate affairs executive focused on developing and communicating compelling narratives that demonstrate the value and promise of our industry for patients, healthcare professionals, payors and investors. His career includes roles in corporate affairs and communications at Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Wave Life Sciences, as well as Biogen, where he worked in corporate communications and public affairs in the US and Europe. His tenure at Biogen also included 10 years in a variety of commercial leadership roles in regional commercial operations and global commercial strategy, and as a global brand lead and General Manager for Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. The son of immigrants from Cuba and the Dominican Republic, he is also committed to increasing diversity in our workforce and creating more inclusive workplaces to ensure that the biopharma industry – and the patients we aim to serve – benefit from all of the best minds and innovation that our society has to offer.
José is also a trustee on the board of the Community Charter School of Cambridge, a charter public school with a proven track record of closing opportunity gaps for all students.
Mathew Mitchell
Board Member
Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, Arialys Therapeutics
Prior to joining Arialys Therapeutics, Mathew directed corporate development and strategic partnerships at a number of San Diego-based organizations, including Cidara Therapeutics, BD Biosciences, and Scripps Research. While at Scripps Research, he led the invention disclosure review for more than $40 million annually in industry-sponsored basic research annually over three years ,while also participating in 1-2 new company formation events per year, including Epic Sciences, Abide Therapeutics, and Receptos. He has partnered at nearly every stage of drug development, representing more than $1.7 billion in transaction value, with companies as diverse as Novartis, Janssen, Pfizer, Mundipharma, LEO pharma, Ventana, Biotechne, and DAKO. Mathew received a M.S. in chemistry from UC San Diego and a B.S. in biochemistry from UC Davis.
Mathew is also on the board of the Ocean Discovery Institute, a San Diego based nonprofit organization that uses science to empower young people from underserved urban communities to transform their lives, their community, and our world as scientific and conservation leaders.
Rob Perez
Board Member
Operating Partner, General Atlantic and Founder & Chairman, Life Science Cares
Rob Perez is an Operating Partner at General Atlantic, providing strategic support and advice to the firm’s investment team and portfolio companies in the Life Sciences sector. Before joining General Atlantic in 2019, he was Managing Director of Vineyard Sound Advisors, LLC, an advisory practice focused on growth companies in the biopharma industry. Prior to that, Rob was President and CEO of Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. before its sale to Merck in 2015. Before joining Cubist in 2003, he served as Vice President of Biogen, Inc.’s CNS Business Unit. Additionally, Rob is a founder and sits on the Board of Life Science Cares whose mission is to activate the financial and human capital of the life sciences industry and partners with nonprofits to disrupt the cycle of poverty and inequality in our communities.