Meet the Team

John McDonough is a member of the Board of Directors at Solace Therapeutics and BioPorto Diagnostics. He is responsible for raising over $500 million of public and private capital creating over $6 billion of market value for 5 different companies over the past 30 years. Previously, Mr. McDonough served in CEO and senior executive management roles in both private and public companies, including successfully leading two IPO’s, serving as CEO of four companies including two established public companies, and as CEO or senior management executive at four start-up companies. Mr. McDonough has led the acquisition of five companies, led merger or acquisition of business with three different companies, and was Board member of two companies successfully acquired by industry leaders. From 2007 through January 2020, Mr. McDonough was Founding President and CEO of T2 Biosystems where he developed and manufactured next-generation diagnostics to get patients on the right therapy faster, starting with sepsis.

Keith Crandell is a Managing Director and Co-Founder of ARCH Venture Partners, L.P., a global seed and early stage venture capital firm focused on innovations in the life and physical sciences. Keith holds an M.B.A. from The University of Chicago (Booth), an M.S. in Chemistry from the University of Texas at Arlington, and a B.S. in Chemistry and Mathematics from St. Lawrence University.

Michael Peterson has been involved in the R&D and Product Development process for over 35 years, playing key roles in introducing innovative products. He is currently the Principal Partner in Mozero Consulting, supporting companies needing product development and project management insight. Previously, he was with Merz Aesthetics, serving as VP & Chief Technology Officer for the Merz Device Innovation Center. Mike was the Vice President of R&D at Ulthera, Inc. before Merz acquired it in 2014. Mike has spent the last 20 years in the medical device space after leading R&D, Product Development, and Project Management functions in various industries, including aerospace, semi-conductor, and retail products. He was the VP of R&D when Select Comfort (AIRB) went public in 1998 and has been recognized as a “Distinguished Corporate Inventor” by the American Society of Patent Holders due to his product patents in multiple industries. Michael holds a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace & Mechanics from the University of Minnesota.

Frederick C. Beddingfield III is a physician-scientist, biotech entrepreneur and current Executive Partner at Apollo Health Ventures, focusing on biotech start-ups in longevity and age-related diseases. He is the former CEO and director of Kira Pharmaceuticals. Prior to his position at Kira Pharma, he was founder, president, chief executive and member of the board of directors of Sienna Biopharmaceuticals Inc. and took the company public in 2017. Previous to Sienna, Frederick served as Chief Medical Officer of Kythera Biopharmaceuticals from March 2013 until it was acquired by Allergan in 2015. Frederick worked at Allergan for 10 years (2003-2013) where he served in various roles including the Therapeutic Area Head of Dermatology and Chief Medical Officer Allergan Medical. He has led the development and approvals of global leading brands in medical dermatology, aesthetics, neurology, metabolic, and other therapeutic areas. These brands include Botox (cosmetic, hyperhidrosis, spasticity, and other), Juvederm, Voluma, Kybella, Latisse, Aczone, and Tazorac. Frederick has led four successful FDA advisor committees. Since completing his training, Frederick has maintained a clinical and teaching practice on the faculty at UCLA. He is a board-certified dermatologist and emergency medicine physician and fellowship trained in dermatologic surgery and cutaneous oncology. Frederick completed his medical degree with honors at UNC Chapel Hill, his residency and fellowship training at UCLA, and his PhD in Policy Analysis Research at RAND. He serves on the board of directors of Cytrellis Biosystems, Inc. and on the medical advisory board of the Children’s Skin Disease Foundation and Camp Wonder. He is the director and co-founder of the Dermatology Summit and Dermatology Innovation Forum conferences.

Fred Aslan, MD, is President and Chief Executive Officer of Artiva Biotherapeutics. Fred is also Founder and Chairman of Adavium Medical (holding company of Vydence Medical and previously Vyttra Diagnosticos). Vydence Medical has grown to become a leading Brazilian aesthetic device company with a proprietary line of energy-based devices sold globally and as distributor for several international aesthetic devices. While CEO of Adavium Medical, Fred had the opportunity to launch and commercialize in Brazil a number of premier aesthetic device brands including CoolSculpting® and ARTAS®. Prior to Adavium Medical, Fred was an investor at Venrock where he led investments in Zeltiq, an aesthetic device company subsequently acquired by Allergan, and in PowerVision, an ophthalmology device company subsequently acquired by Alcon. While at Venrock, Fred also co-founded and served as board member of Receptos Pharmaceuticals, a biotech company subsequently acquired by Celgene. Earlier in his career Fred was Director of Business Development at CuraGen, a genomics company, and a management consultant at Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Fred has a B.S. in Biology from Duke University, an M.D. from Yale School of Medicine, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Dr. Anderson practices dermatology at Massachusetts General Hospital and teaches at Harvard and MIT and serves on many clinical advisory boards and industry committees. He has conceived and developed many of the ground breaking laser treatments now widely used in medical care. He co-invented fractional laser treatment, and recently developed a new strategy for epidermal grafting of wounds. His research has advanced the basic knowledge of human skin photobiology, drug photosensitization mechanisms, tissue optics, and laser-tissue interactions. Dr. Anderson graduated from MIT, and then received his MD degree magna cum laude from the joint MIT-Harvard medical program, Health Sciences and Technology. After completing his dermatology residency and an NIH research fellowship at Harvard, he joined the faculty where he is now Harvard Medical School Professor in dermatology, Director of the Wellman Center for Photomedicine; and adjunct Professor of Health Sciences and Technology at MIT. Dr. Anderson has been awarded over 60 national and international patents, and has co-authored over 250 scientific books and papers.

William Gerald (Jay) Austen, Jr., MD, is Chief of the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Division and Chief of Burn Surgery at Mass General; Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School; Director of the Aesthetic and Reconstructive Breast Fellowship Program; Mass General Trustee Chair of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Under his leadership of the Plastics and Burns Divisions, novel clinical programs have been established including composite tissue transplantation and nerve decompression to treat patients with migraines. In addition to his clinical expertise, Dr. Austen is an authority on device innovation and has led the development of numerous patents and prototypes related to anti-aging, rejuvenation and scar therapy. Dr. Austen has published extensively in the field of plastic surgery with more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and has over 100 patents pending or issued in the U.S. and internationally. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and of the American Association of Plastic Surgeons, and is an ad-hoc reviewer for Annals of Plastic Surgery, Plastic Reconstructive Surgery, JAMA, Surgery, Aesthetic Surgery Journal, and Transplantation. Dr. Austen received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and is board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. He completed his residency with the Harvard Plastic Surgery program and his fellowship at Royal Children's and Women's hospitals.

Doug Levinson is a serial entrepreneur who has created and led numerous successful companies in the life sciences. Prior to Cytrellis, Doug was a Partner at Flagship Ventures where he co-founded and served as CEO of T2 Biosystems (TTOO) and Seventh Sense Biosystems. Doug was a member of the founding team of TransForm Pharmaceuticals and served as a member of the Management Team from the company’s initial founding through its acquisition by J&J in 2006. At TransForm, he served as Vice President of Emerging Science and Technology where he led the design, development and implementation of TransForm’s basic technology platforms and business model. Prior to TransForm, Doug was at Millennium Pharmaceuticals for 7 years, which he joined as a founding scientific team member and was responsible for establishing the company’s early scientific program in Immunology/Inflammation. Doug holds a Ph.D. in Genetics from Harvard University and a B.S. cum laude in Molecular Biology from the University of Massachusetts. He has authored numerous patents in the field of high throughput platform technologies and molecular genetics and has published extensively in scientific journals.