Board of Directors
Doug Cole, MD
General Partner • Flagship Ventures
After teaching Neurology at Harvard Medical School, Doug launched an entrepreneurial career that spans several successful companies, including Cytotherapuetics, Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Ensemble Discovery.
Doug joined Flagship Ventures in 2001 where he focuses on Life Science investments. His significant industrial experience and strong academic background include a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and post-graduate medical training at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital.
Jeff Dykan
Managing Partner • SCP Vitalife
Mr. Dykan has been a Managing Partner with Vitalife since 2002. At Vitalife he has had a lead role in managing its investments, including arranging financings. He came to Vitalife with over 25 years experience in finance, business development and general management in global growth companies and startups. Prior to joining Vitalife, he was recruited by Sequoia Capital to be Chairman and CEO of BitBand, an IP broadband start up, and successfully turned that company around. He has a B.S. in accounting and management from New York University and an MBA in computer applications also from New York University. Mr. Dykan is also licensed in New York state as a certified public accountant.
Phil Ferneau, JD
Managing Director and Co-Founder • Borealis Ventures
Phil capitalizes on his 10 years of experience networking with entrepreneurs associated with Dartmouth College to identify the most promising opportunities for commercializing technology. He moved to Borealis Ventures from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, where he was the founding executive director of the Center for Private Equity and Entrepreneurship and an adjunct professor on venture capital and entrepreneurship.
Earlier in private legal practice, he counseled technology startups, Fortune 500 companies and foreign governments on sensitive trade, tax and investment matters.
M. Carl Johnson
Executive Vice President, Brands • Del Monte Foods
Carl has operating responsibility for Del Monte’s pet brands and the majority of its consumer brands, marketing and consumer insights groups, marketing services, research & development and innovation. Prior to Del Monte, Carl worked at Campbell Soup Company where he ran three successively larger business divisions. Among them, he led the three-year transformation of the $2.5 billion New Meals Division, restoring earnings momentum and achieving record, high-operating income growth.
Prior to Campbell Soup Company, Carl held senior management positions at Kraft, Marketing Corporation of America, Polaroid and Colgate-Palmolive.
Joe Mandato, PhD
Managing Director • De Novo Ventures
Joe has held senior positions with several leading medical device and technology firms. He joined De Novo Ventures as managing director in 2003. Joe also is an adjunct faculty member of the University of San Francisco Graduate School of Management and co-professor of the course, Medical Device Innovation, at Stanford University.
Among other responsibilities, he has served as chairman of Confer Software, a developer of software used to create efficiencies and streamline processes in healthcare and as president and CEO of Origin Medsystems, a developer of minimally invasive surgical devices for use in general, cardio-thoracic, and ob-gyn surgery, which was acquired by Eli Lilly & Company in 1992 and spun out as one of the units which formed Guidant Corporation in 1995. At Guidant, Joe was a member of the founding management committee and CEO of two of its five operating units, Origin and Heart Rhythm Technology.
Earlier in his career, he was CEO of Ioptex Research, a developer of intraocular lenses used in cataract surgery, which was acquired by Smith & Nephew PLC. He joined Ioptex from Cilco AG in Zug, Switzerland, the Europe, Middle East, and Africa headquarters of a unit of Rorer Group, where he served as CEO. He began his career in healthcare as a Captain in the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps
David Muller, PhD
President and CEO • Avedro
Recognizing the potential of microwave technology to gently reshape the cornea, Dr. David Muller, a proven serial entrepreneur, founded Avedro in 2008. Two decades earlier as the founder, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Summit Technology, he led the team that brought the first FDA-approved excimer laser to market and laser vision correction eye surgery to tens of millions of people around the world.
David holds a doctorate in physical chemistry from Cornell University and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Anthony Natale, MD
Venture Partner • PrismVentureWorks
Tony has invested across a number of therapeutic areas, including orthopedics, interventional medicine, radiation oncology, minimally invasive technologies, neurology, robotics and women’s health.
He blends extensive business, investment, and company formation experience with a surgical background in clinical medicine. Currently a principal with PrismVentureWorks, he focuses on medical device investments for the firm.
A committed board member, Tony works alongside entrepreneurs to build out management teams, establish effective corporate governance and bring operational discipline to R&D and early commercialization efforts.