Oviva Team

Dr. Daisy Robinton is passionate about elevating women’s health and challenging the status quo of female aging. She launched Oviva Therapeutics with the vision to tackle aging in women while addressing the historic gender disparity in biomedical research and healthcare. Dr. Robinton completed her PhD in Human Biology and Translational Medicine at Harvard University and landed on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for her scientific discoveries. Her writing has been published in periodicals such as Nature, Vanity Fair and NEO.LIFE. Her work as a molecular biologist, writer, public speaker, and lifestyle & fitness model, contribute to the unique lens with which she examines the intersection of science and culture.

Dr. Pépin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, an Associate Molecular Biologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and the Associate Director of the Pediatric Surgical Research Laboratories of MGH. Dr. Pépin is a reproductive biologist with expertise in ovarian biology. His research interests include both basic reproductive developmental research and its application to women’s health. In particular, Dr. Pépin has investigated the role of MIS in female reproduction in the context of ovarian function and disease. Together with Dr. Donahoe, he has described the contraceptive effect of superphysiological MIS in several animal models, examined the mechanisms of follicular quiescence, and is investigating clinical applications in contraception, assisted reproduction, oncofertility, and aging.

Patricia K. Donahoe is Director Pediatric Surgical Research Laboratories, Chief Emerita Pediatric Surgical Services MGH, and Marshall K. Bartlett Professor of Surgery Harvard Medical School. Her research focuses on Müllerian Inhibiting Substance in reproductive development and as a potential therapeutic for ovarian cancers, and recently, with David Pepin PhD, as an agent to enhance fertility, contraception and ovarian protection. An Associate Member of the Broad Institute and Faculty of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and the Center for Human Genomic Research at MGH, Dr. Donahoe has trained >100 fellows and published >300 peer-reviewed articles. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (1999), National Academy of Medicine (1991), National Academy of Inventors (2021), and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences (1987)

Dr. Daisy Robinton is passionate about elevating women’s health and challenging the status quo of female aging. She launched Oviva Therapeutics with the vision to tackle aging in women while addressing the historic gender disparity in biomedical research and healthcare. Dr. Robinton completed her PhD in Human Biology and Translational Medicine at Harvard University and landed on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for her scientific discoveries. Her writing has been published in periodicals such as Nature, Vanity Fair and NEO.LIFE. Her work as a molecular biologist, writer, public speaker, and lifestyle & fitness model, contribute to the unique lens with which she examines the intersection of science and culture.

Georg C. Terstappen is the Executive Vice President of Drug Discovery at Cambrian Biopharma. He has 30 years of experience holding R&D leadership positions at Bayer, GW/GSK, and Abbott/AbbVie. Georg was also Co-Founder and CSO of Siena Biotech and CSO of OxStem. In addition, Georg has led EU R&D framework organizations as Vice-Chair of the Innovative Medicines Strategy group. He was an adjunct professor and visiting scientist at several universities, including the University of Oxford, for 10+ years & a leader of European-wide research programs funded by the EC. Georg has published 90 scientific articles and is an inventor/co-inventor of 15 patents. He received a PhD in natural sciences for research conducted at the Max-Planck-Institute in Cologne and the Federal Research Centre Juelich.

Mark Nuttall is the Executive Vice President of Business Development at Cambrian Biopharma. He was previously Chief Business Officer for Kintai Therapeutics/Senda Biosciences, a Flagship Pioneering company, & Kymera Therapeutics (KYMR). Mark has held senior roles in business development (BD) functions at several large pharmaceutical companies. He was Vice President and Head of BD & Licensing for core therapeutic franchises at Sanofi Genzyme. At Johnson & Johnson, he led neuroscience BD and was responsible for leading a team that transformed J&J’s CNS portfolio. Mark began his career in the healthcare industry in R&D at GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca. He has a B.Sc. in biochemistry from the University College of Wales in Cardiff and a Ph.D. in molecular and cell biology from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland.

As Strategic Innovation Leader, Seema Basu, PhD, directs the strategy for open innovation and strategic alliances. She leads a team responsible for enabling strategic corporate alliances and new initiatives, such as the Innovation Fellows Program for collaboration with industry. Additionally, team manages licensing and partnering of IP portfolios from Regenerative Medicine, Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, and MGH Center for Global Health. She represents Mass General Brigham at numerous national and regional organizations. She has more than a decade of deep experience in industry-academic collaborations and business development & licensing at Mass General Brigham and Harvard and a successful laboratory career at Parke-Davis and Albany Medical Center. She earned her PhD from the University of Notre Dame.

Emre Seli, MD, is Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences and Medical Director of Yale Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility Division. His laboratory characterized the mechanisms regulating translational activation of gene expression in the oocyte. Dr. Seli and his colleagues also made contributions to our understanding of oocyte and embryo competence in IVF and the potential role of non-invasive diagnostic technologies in this context. Dr. Seli is the recipient of many National Institutes of Health (NIH) and pharmaceutical industry-sponsored research grants. He published more than 150 scientific articles and edited five books including the 9th edition of “Speroff’s Clinical Gynecologic Endocrinology and Infertility“. Dr. Seli’s current research focuses on determinants of oocyte and embryo health and mechanisms of ovarian aging.

Mary Morris, MD, PhD, is the Medical Director of the Oncofertility Clinic and the Medical Director of the Third-Party Reproduction Program in the Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Division of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Massachusetts General Hospital. She is an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School. Her primary research interests include exploring novel approaches to fertility preservation in those diagnosed with cancer and understanding clinical outcomes for women with hereditary cancer syndromes.

Dr. Zelinski is a Professor in the Division of Reproductive & Developmental Sciences at the Oregon National Primate Research Center, and in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at OHSU. Dr. Zelinski studies the basic mechanisms underlying the development, function and aging of primate ovarian follicles and conducts translational research in women’s reproductive health. She has 30 years of experience using nonhuman primate models of infertility, contraception and assisted reproductive technologies. She has received continuous funding from the NIH since 1998 & several awards from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. She has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and served as Secretary, Program Chair and on the Board of Directors of the Society for the Study of Reproduction, from which she received the Distinguished Service Award.

Samira Addo M.D., FRCOG, has more than 20 years of experience in the Biopharmaceutical Industry and expertise in Reproductive Medicine and Women’s Health. She has served in various leadership roles within Translational Medicine and Global R&D at Merck/MSD and Ferring. Dr Addo has demonstrated multi-disciplinary skills to integrate translational strategies and optimize lead candidates through preclinical to proof of concept for advancement to clinical development. Dr Addo received MBChB from the University of Ghana and continued her clinical internship at University College Hospital, London where she completed the postgraduate qualification in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Dr Addo is an elected Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists, UK & an elected Governor to the Council of Governors for Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Tom Boone has more than 40 years of accomplishments in the discovery & development of protein therapeutics. Tom worked at Amgen for 28 years & served in positions of increasing responsibility in growing Amgen Protein Sciences to an organization of over 300 researchers across five different sites. His career at Amgen began in 1981 as a bench scientist with the isolation and cDNA cloning of novel cytokines and growth factors including G-CSF. He was also responsible for expressing, purifying, and formulating many of Amgen’s recombinant proteins. Tom developed proprietary processes used to produce recombinant G-CSF and other therapeutic candidates for clinical applications. He is currently a consultant or scientific advisor for more than 30 companies, providing both strategic and technical guidance.