Halley Gilbert is currently the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Business Officer at Adagio Therapeutics.

Halley served as the SVP Corporate Development and Chief Adminstrative Officer at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, overseeing corporate and business development, legal, compliance and government affairs until 2020, after joining the company in 2008 as the founding member of the legal department.

Halley has more than two decades of experience guiding biopharmaceutical companies through transformational change, as well as expertise in corporate transactions, governance, and the operational and strategic issues relevant to launching new medicines.

Prior to joining Ironwood, Halley was vice president, deputy general counsel at Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where she supported the launch of Cubist’s first acute care antibiotic, and prior to Cubist, she served as corporate counsel at Genzyme Corp. Halley began her career at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, where she specialized in mergers and acquisitions and securities law.

She serves on the board of directors of Vaxcyte (PCVX), CytomX (CTMX), Arcutis (ARQT), and Allergy Amulet, a private, venture-backed company developing a food allergen detection device. She previously served on the board of Achaogen Inc. and Dermira. Halley holds a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law and a B.A. from Tufts University.

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KARL SIMPSON

Founder & CEO
Liftstream

Karl is CEO of Liftstream, a company he founded in 2004 to deliver executive search and board services into the life sciences sector. He has led Liftstream to become a market leader in championing diversity in the life sciences sector in Europe and the US, having published a number of proprietary research studies and led key industry initiatives, such as the Bioscience & Investor Inclusion Group.

Karl served as Chairman of the Association of Executive Recruiters from 2017-2020, and on the board from 2013.

He served on the board of the Women’s Business Council – MACA (UK Government Equalities Office) from 2015-2020 and acts as an advisor to a range of organisations on issues corporate goverance, leadership and also diversity. Karl is named on the 2018 Men As Change Agents Power List in recognition of his commitment to gender equality.

Karl was co-founder and executive director of Bioinsource from 2001-2003, a company that provided recruiting services in life sciences which merged with James Harvard (Hays Plc).

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MARY THISTLE

Chief of Staff
Bill & Melinda Gates
Medical Research Institute

Mary is the Chief of Staff of the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute. She has more than 25 years of experience in finance, strategy and business development functions across different life science therapeutic areas and modalities.

Prior to joining the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute, Mary was Chief Operating Officer of Dimension Therapeutics Inc. At Dimension, she oversaw the company’s Series B financing and initial public offering, expanded the pipeline through strategic business development transactions, and led the sale of the company to Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. Prior, Mary was the Senior Vice President, Business Development at Cubist Pharmaceuticals, where she was responsible for the business development function and led multiple acquisitions and assisted in the sale to Merck. Mary held several senior level positions at ViaCell Inc. in finance, operations, product development and business development, and then served as Senior Vice President, Business Development at PerkinElmer after ViaCell was acquired. Mary began her career in finance as a Certified Public Accountant. Mary also serves on the Board of Directors of Enterome SA (private), Cocoon Biotech (private) and Homology Medicines (FIXX) as chair of the audit committee.

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ALLENE M. DIAZ

Non-Executive Director
Allena Pharmaceuticals and BCLS Acquisition Corp.

Allene Diaz currently serves as a non-executive director on the boards of Allena Pharmaceuticals and BCLS Acquisition Corporation. She also leads a New Product Strategy and Portfolio Management consulting practice.

Ms. Diaz served on the board of directors of Erytech Pharma SA from 2016 to 2019.

Ms. Diaz held the position of Senior Vice President, R&D Portfolio Management at GlaxoSmithKline until June 2020.

From 2015 to 2019, she served as Senior Vice President of Global Commercial Development and Program Strategy and as a member of the Executive Leadership Team at TESARO Inc (formerly Nasdaq: TSRO).

Prior to joining TESARO, Ms. Diaz held a variety of roles in the EMD Serono and Merck Serono divisions of Merck KGaA, including Senior Vice President, Managed Markets, Senior Vice President, Head of U.S. Oncology Commercial, Vice President, Oncology Marketing, Head of Global Strategic Planning, and Head of the Global Oncology Business Unit.

Earlier in her career, Ms. Diaz held management, operating, sales and medical affairs roles at various biopharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, Biogen, and Amylin Pharmaceuticals, among others. She has contributed to the global development, launch and commercialization of multiple products.

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