Michael is the CEO & CSO of Alnivo Therapeutics, an early-stage biotech focused on the therapeutic potential of HSP70. He is also Founder and Managing Partner at Cambridge Biostrategy Associates (CBA), a management consulting firm advising companies on commercializing new technologies, and a Scientific Advisor at SRI Biosciences, a division of SRI International.
Michael has a broad background and experience in laboratory science, scientific management, and business. His early training was in cell and molecular biology, with two decades of lab bench experience followed by several years of managing and leading early-stage drug development and business consulting projects. His Ph.D. and post-doctoral fellowship training were focused on cell and molecular biology. As a post-doctoral fellow at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Cell Biology, he made fundamental discoveries in the cell biology of apoptosis and published several well-cited papers. He then transitioned to drug discovery at Millennium Pharmaceuticals (now part of Takeda), where he led a cell biology group as part of a neuroscience genomics discovery team focused on finding novel molecules involved in cell death, neurodegeneration, inflammation, and epilepsy. He then transitioned at Millennium to managing technology projects and alliances with Millennium’s Pharma partners. Upon leaving Millennium, he founded his first consulting company, where he managed preclinical drug development and business opportunity assessments for clients, including designing and contracting out experiments that led to co-authorship on a patent. He then joined a boutique management consulting firm, Scientia Advisors (acquired by Precision for Medicine Group), first as a consultant and eventually as a Principal in the Health Technology and Innovation practice at Precision for Value (part of Precision for Medicine Group), where he led engagements in pharmaceutical R&D, diagnostics, life science tools, contract services, and medical devices. After he left Precision for Medicine, he founded and currently leads Cambridge Biostrategy Associates.
Michael completed his post-doctoral fellowship at the Laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology (LMCB) at University College, London, UK. He has a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from UCSF, an ALM in Management from Harvard University, an M.Phil. in Pharmacology from Cambridge University, and a BA in Biology from Cornell University. He is an author of numerous scientific publications and a patent.