Mike serves as Scientific Advisor to Emvena Therapeutics. He is the Hibbert Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania, where he has led a research lab since 2018. His research lies at the interface of biomaterials science, drug delivery, and cellular and molecular bioengineering to fundamentally understand and therapeutically target biological barriers. The findings and technologies developed are then applied to a range of human health applications.

Mike is a co-founder and Scientific Advisory Board member of several biotechnology companies focused on non-viral delivery technologies for genetic medicines. He has received an NIH National Research Service Award, the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, the NSF CAREER Award, and a Career Award at the Scientific Interface from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. He has authored almost 200 publications. Mike holds a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Cornell University.

Kelsey serves as Scientific Advisor to Emvena Therapeutics. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at Rice University where she leads a research group working at the interface of biomaterials science, immune engineering, and reproductive medicine. She is part of the Rice Biotech Launch Pad and the Rice360 Institute for Global Health Technologies, helping to facilitate the translation of therapeutic technologies for women’s health to the clinic.

In 2025, Kelsey earned her PhD in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania in the lab of Professor Michael Mitchell, where she engineered placenta-tropic lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) to deliver therapeutic mRNA medicines for the treatment of preeclampsia. As an NSF Graduate Research Fellow, she authored more than 35 peer-reviewed publications during her graduate tenure. She was awarded the Controlled Release Society PhD Thesis Award for the Best Doctoral Thesis in Drug Delivery Research, the Solomon R. Pollack Award for Excellence in Graduate Bioengineering Research, and the Penn Engineering Outstanding Teaching Award.

Her prior research experience includes work in the lab of Professor Anirban Sen Gupta at Case Western Reserve University, where she earned her BSE in Biomedical Engineering.

Hannah serves as Director of Research and Development at Emvena Therapeutics. She completed her PhD in the lab of Professor Michael Mitchell at the University of Pennsylvania, where she developed and characterized lipid nanoparticle (LNP) formulations for messenger RNA (mRNA) and circular RNA (circRNA) delivery to the placenta. Her work identified key physical and biological parameters that govern potent in vivo placental RNA delivery.

Hannah’s prior research experience includes work at MIT in the lab of Professor Paula Hammond and at Brown University in the lab of Professor Anita Shukla. She is the author of more than 25 peer-reviewed publications, including seven as first author.

Hannah holds a PhD in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania, where she was an NSF Graduate Research Fellow, and a BS with Honors in Biomedical Engineering from Brown University.

Young serves as Chief Executive Officer and Executive Chair of Emvena Therapeutics. He is non-executive director of Atisama Therapeutics, an Australian respiratory-focused biotech company, and a board director of ADMA Biologics, a commercial biopharmaceutical company dedicated to specialty biologic products. He was previously Chief Executive Officer at Alchemab Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of naturally-occurring protective antibodies in neurodegeneration and oncology. Young held a variety of leadership roles as a senior executive at Momenta Pharmaceuticals, including Chief Financial and Business Officer. He led public equity financings raising nearly $500 million and led the company’s sale to Johnson & Johnson for $6.5 billion. Prior to Momenta, Young was a business development professional at Biogen, driving a variety of transactions. Young previously worked at the venture capital firm Advanced Technology Ventures, investing in early-stage biotech and medical device companies.

He received a BS in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a PhD in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology from Harvard University.

Allison serves as Senior Clinical Advisor at Emvena Therapeutics. She was most recently Chief Medical Officer at Comanche Biopharma, where she was responsible for the strategy, direction, and execution of the company’s clinical development. Previously, she was VP of Clinical Development, Infectious Diseases at Moderna, where she spent more than five years in roles of increasing responsibility advancing mRNA-based vaccines and the first mRNA-encoded monoclonal antibody. She led teams on the successful execution of clinical programs from Phase 1 through Phase 3, including serving as medical lead for the Phase 3 pivotal efficacy trial of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. Prior to Moderna, Allison headed the global clinical team for the RSV maternal immunization vaccine program at Novavax. Prior to this, she worked in translational medicine, early and exploratory clinical development, and vaccine trials, including maternal immunization, at Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics.

Before moving to the biopharma industry, Allison was an academic and private practice obstetrician-gynecologist. Her academic career included faculty positions at Brown University Medical School and adjunct faculty appointments at Harvard Medical School affiliated hospitals.

Allison holds a BA in the History of Religion from Bryn Mawr College and an MD from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. She completed her obstetrics and gynecology residency at Brown University.

Anna serves as a board member of Emvena Therapeutics. She joined OUP in 2025 as General Partner for the $50M PxB Fund (Penn-BioNTech Innovative Therapeutics Seed Fund, L.P.), coinciding with the launch of the fund. She is focused exclusively on investments into life science companies that emerge from University of Pennsylvania technologies or ideas.

Prior to OUP, Anna launched and led the venture investing arm of the Mark Foundation for Cancer Research (MFCR), a non-profit in NYC. She invested in and represented MFCR on the boards of Accent Therapeutics, C2i Genomics (acquired by Veracyte), Interius BioTherapeutics (acquired by Gilead/Kite), Verseau Therapeutics, Immunitas Therapeutics, Vicinitas Therapeutics, and Hyku Biosciences. Anna continues to serve as a Director on the board of Verseau Therapeutics.

Anna began her career as an Associate and then Vice President at Lightstone Ventures, a global, early-stage venture fund investing in the biopharmaceutical and medical device sectors. She played a major role in the firm’s investments in Tizona Therapeutics (acquired by Gilead), Gemini Therapeutics (NASDAQ: GMTX), Disarm Therapeutics (acquired by Eli Lilly), Locanabio, and Cyteir Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CYT), and served as board observer for these companies.

Anna’s additional experience includes business development and strategy consulting for numerous biotech companies, as well as internships with several corporate venture funds.

Anna holds a PhD in Biophysics from Harvard University, where she was an NSF Graduate Research Fellow, and a BA in Biochemistry from the University of Pennsylvania, where she was a Vagelos Science Scholar.