Nadim Shohdy, Ph.D., is the Chief Operating Officer, Deerfield Discovery and Development and joined the Firm in 2024. Prior to Deerfield, Dr. Shohdy was Vice President, Corporate Development at Hyku Biosciences. Before Hyku Biosciences, Dr. Shohdy served as Entrepreneur in Residence at RA Ventures, a division of RA Capital Management, during which time he also served as Vice President, Corporate Development at Clear Creek Bio. Prior to these roles, Dr. Shohdy spent 10 years at NYU Langone Health in roles of increasing seniority, including most recently as Associate Dean, Therapeutics Alliances. Dr. Shohdy started his career as a Research Associate at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory before serving as a Research Analyst, Innovation Fund at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. Dr. Shohdy holds a B.S. in Biology from Stony Brook University and a M.A., M.Phil and Ph.D. in Microbiology from Columbia University.

Ying Yan, Ph.D., is Vice President, Biostatistics, Deerfield Discovery and Development, and joined the Firm in 2024.  Prior to Deerfield, Dr. Yan spent four years with Ovid Therapeutics as VP of Biometrics (Head of Statistics, Data Management and SAS Programming).  Before Ovid Therapeutics, she was with Incyte for four years as Senior Director, Biostatistics and with Helsinn for over five years as Executive Director, Biostatistics and Data Management. Dr. Yan holds an M.A. in Mathematics, M.S. in Statistics, and Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of Wyoming.

Michael Palovich, Ph.D., is a Vice President, Head of Chemistry, Deerfield Discovery and Development, and joined the Firm in 2024. Prior to Deerfield, Dr. Palovich was the Vice President of Medicinal Chemistry and Applied Molecule Technologies for Recursion Pharmaceuticals and the Chief Scientific Officer and Head of Drug Discovery for Cyclica which was bought by Recursion in 2023. Before these positions, he spent 24 years with GSK, in a variety of roles, most recently as a Senior Director, Medicinal Chemistry. Dr. Palovich holds a B.S. in Organic Chemistry from Allegheny College and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh.

Susannah Barbee, Ph.D., is Vice President, Translational Immunology, Deerfield Discovery and Development, and joined the Firm in 2024. Prior to Deerfield, Dr. Barbee spent four years with TRex Bio, most recently as a Vice President, Head of Translational Biology. Before TRex, she was with Five Prime Therapeutics for four years, most recently as Director, Immuno-Oncology Research and with Amplimmune for over five years most recently as an Associate Director, Research. Dr. Barbee holds an A.B. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Biology from the California Institute of Technology.

Andres Abin-Fuentes, Ph.D., is a Senior Director, Biopharmaceutical Development, Deerfield Discovery and Development and joined the Firm in 2024. Prior to Deerfield, Dr. Abin-Fuentes was a Director, Biologics & Gene Therapy Process Development & Manufacturing for Cartesian Therapeutics (and formerly Selecta Biosciences) for three years. Before Cartesian, he was with Synlogic, Inc., for three years, most recently as Head of Bioprocess Development.  Dr. Abin-Fuentes has also held roles with Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Goodwin Biotechnology, Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb.  Dr. Abin-Fuentes holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, an M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering Practices from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an M.B.A. from the University of Nebraska, and an M.S. in Data Science from Eastern University.

Claudia Howard is Vice President, Head of Development Operations, Deerfield Discovery and Development and joined the Firm in 2024. Prior to Deerfield, Ms. Howard was with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals for 22 years in various strategic and leadership roles, most recently as Executive Director, Head of Strategy Business Planning and Execution. Before Regeneron, she held positions with Shire U.S., UCTi International Laboratories, ICON Laboratories and Alken-Murray Corporation. Ms. Howard holds a B.S. in Biology and Chemistry from Santiago de Cali University in Colombia.

Frank Nestle, M.D., FMedSci, is a Partner at Deerfield and member of the therapeutics team.  Frank leads Deerfield’s drug discovery and development efforts and applies his expertise to all aspects of our investment process.  Prior to joining Deerfield in 2024, Dr. Nestle was Global Head of Research and Chief Scientific Officer at Sanofi, where he oversaw all research therapeutic areas and platforms.  Before this, Dr. Nestle was Professor and Chair of Cutaneous Medicine and Immunotherapy at King’s College London and practiced medicine at Guy’s and St. Thomas Hospital in London and the University Hospital in Zürich.  Dr. Nestle has also held leadership roles in several academic and professional organizations and served on the board of several private companies. Dr. Nestle holds an M.D. from The Julius Maximilian’s University of Würzburg and is a Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences.

Hongbin Wan, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist, Deerfield Discovery and Development, and joined the Firm in 2024. Prior to Deerfield, Dr. Wan was with Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research for almost five years, most recently as Senior Expert, Data Science. Dr. Wan holds a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Temple University.