Board of Directors
Noubar Afeyan, PhD
Founder, Chairman
Dr. Afeyan is Managing Partner and CEO of Flagship Ventures, a firm that manages over $600 million in early-stage funds across the sectors of Therapeutics, Life Science, and BioEnergy/Cleantech. A technologist, entrepreneur and venture capitalist, Dr. Afeyan has co-founded and helped build over 20 successful life science and technology start-ups during the past two decades. In addition to Joule, he is a director and co-founder of Flagship portfolio companies Affinnova, BG Medicine, Ensemble Discovery, Genstruct, Helicos BioSciences (NASDAQ:HLCS), and LS9. Previously he was a member of the founding team, director and investor in several successful ventures including Chemgenics Pharmaceuticals, Color Kinetics, Antigenics, EXACT Sciences and Adnexus Therapeutics.
Graham Allison, PhD
Board Member
Dr. Allison is Director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, and a leading analyst of US national security and defense policy. As Assistant Secretary of Defense in the first Clinton Administration, Dr. Allison received the Defense Department's highest civilian award, the Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, for "reshaping relations with Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan to reduce the former Soviet nuclear arsenal." He was also Special Advisor to the Secretary of Defense under President Reagan. Dr. Allison has served as a Director of the Getty Oil Company, Natixis, Loomis Sayles, Hansberger, Taubman Centers, Inc., and Belco Oil and Gas, as well as a member of the Advisory Boards of Chase Bank, Chemical Bank, Hydro-Quebec, and the International Energy Corporation.
David Berry, MD, PhD
Founder, Board Member
Dr. Berry is a Partner at Flagship Ventures, where he focuses on investing in and founding early-stage life science and cleantech ventures. Prior to starting Joule, he co-founded and helped launch LS9. Dr. Berry’s work has led to 11 peer-reviewed publications, over 50 patents and applications, as well as over 25 awards and honors including the prestigious Lemelson-MIT Student Prize in 2005 for invention and innovation. Dr. Berry was also named Innovator of the Year by Technology Review in its 2007 TR35 list of the world’s top 35 innovators under the age of 35.
Stelios Papadopoulos, PhD
Board Member
Dr. Papadopoulos is co-founder and chairman of Exelixis, a development-stage biotech company focused on novel small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases. He retired as Vice Chairman of Cowen & Co. in August 2006 after six years as an investment banker with the firm, where he focused on the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors. Prior to joining Cowen & Co., Dr. Papadopoulos spent 13 years as an investment banker at PaineWebber, where he was most recently Chairman of PaineWebber Development Corp., a subsidiary focusing on biotechnology. In addition to Joule, he is a co-founder and board member of Anadys Pharmaceuticals and Cellzome, and also serves on the boards of BG Medicine, Regulus Therapeutics and Biogen Idec.
William J. Sims
President and CEO, Board Member
Mr. Sims is a proven leader with nearly 30 years of experience growing both emerging and established companies in multiple technology and product sectors. He most recently served as President and CEO of Color Kinetics, the company largely credited for pioneering the intelligent LED illumination market. In his seven- year tenure he guided the company to profitability, achieved 30% annual growth on average, oversaw its successful IPO, secondary offering, and eventual sale to Philips for $800 million in 2007. Prior to Color Kinetics Mr. Sims held senior leadership positions at Zenith, JVC and e-SIM. He holds a BA in Biological Sciences from California State University, Fullerton.