Our Team

Tom is a veteran entrepreneur who has turned creative scientific visions into successful businesses for both startups and established organizations for over 20 years and has co-founded or helped launch several companies, including Intellia Therapeutics and Eleven Biotherapeutics.

While at Intellia Therapeutics, a CRISPR/Cas9 company which Tom joined as Chief Scientific Officer, he helped build the research team, raise funds (including an IPO), and provide a vision for technology extension. He played a significant role as the corporate spokesperson to lay and industry press, and to governmental and non-governmental organizations on the rapidly evolving and intensely followed CRISPR landscape. Tom has wide-ranging knowledge of biological systems through his work across diverse platforms including gene editing, genomics and gene discovery, small molecule drug repositioning, and protein engineering. In addition to Tom’s many accomplishments he has also survived a shark tank!

He received his PhD from the University of Cambridge and completed research fellowships at Harvard Medical School and McGill University. He is currently also an Executive Partner at MPM.

Nelson serves as Senior Vice President, Platform at Orna, where he leads our efforts to develop highly stable, long lasting circular RNA.

Nelson is a seasoned biotech veteran with over 15 years of experience focusing on developing RNA-based medicine. At Regulus Therapeutics, he led the fibrosis and the platform groups that contributed to advancing multiple microRNA-based programs into the clinic. One of the candidates, lademirsen, is in a phase 2 trial for the treatment of Alport Syndrome. At TranslateBio, Nelson was Vice President of Drug Discovery where he led the effort to identify and validate long non-coding RNA targets. Prior to joining Orna Therapeutics, he served as Vice President of Discovery and Translational Research at LogicBio Therapeutics. Nelson was responsible for building out the research team and leading preclinical research of multiple AAV-mediated gene editing programs. The most advanced program, LB-001, is currently being evaluated in pediatric methylmalonic acidemia patients.

Nelson received his PhD from the Johns Hopkins University and was a Damon Runyon Fellow at University of California San Diego. He is an author of over 50 peer-reviewed publications, patents and patent applications. Along with academia, Nelson enjoys being out on the water. One time while fishing, he experienced a breaching whale very close by!

Michael is Orna’s Head of Facilities & Operations, leading the charge on the company’s Real Estate, Facilities & Laboratory Operations, Security, EH&S, Capital Projects & Engineering.

Bringing more than a decade of operational and facility experience to Orna, his prior life science experience includes ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Takeda and, most recently, Genocea Biosciences, where he held increasing roles of leadership within the Operations department and the greater organizations. Michael has a passion for developing and mentoring those who work for him.

Michael received his bachelor’s degree in Marine Safety & Environmental Protection from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. When he’s not hard at work, he enjoys spending time with his wife and 4 children, and his family hopes to welcome another child through adoption soon.

Claudia serves as Orna’s Senior Vice President, Preclinical Safety.

She is a recognized biotechnology leader who built and managed high-performing teams supporting preclinical laboratory operations for Amgen and Biogen, as well as preclinical development for Avrobio, where she was most recently Vice President Preclinical Development. She is a relationship builder, proactive problem solver, and adaptable, result oriented team member with a demonstrated ability to identify, plan, and successfully execute cross organizational project initiatives across R&D as well as develop and manage internal and external strategic alliances.

Her experience spans from being accountable for laboratory management, assay development, preclinical strategy, non-GLP and GLP study design and analysis, and compliance to support drug discovery, early through mid-stage clinical drug development. Her industry exposure includes small molecules, replacement proteins, gene therapy, and biologics in lysosomal storage diseases, immunology, hemophilia, and neurology.

Claudia completed a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree from Tufts University and a Postdoctoral Associate in Biomedical Research at the Division of Comparative Medicine at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She is certified as Diplomate of the American College of Laboratory Medicine (DACLAM) as well as Diplomate of the American Boards of Toxicology (DABT). She discovered, characterized, and named Helicobacter cetorum, co-authored peer-reviewed papers, published a book and several book chapters. In her spare time she loves to spend time with her family, ski, fly fish, bike, hike and paint.

Al is the Senior Director, Head of Delivery Sciences here at Orna, where he leads our efforts to bring oRNA to new, therapeutically meaningful tissues and cell types. Al’s unique background as a classically trained nucleic acid chemist and enzymologist, coupled with over 10 years in industry focused on nanoparticle development, brings a unique perspective, leadership, and creativity to Orna.

On Al’s first birthday, he split his head open and claims he has never been the same. As a nucleic acid chemist, we still think he’s pretty smart! Al has contributed to multiple clinical and commercial nanoparticle programs at Moderna and BIND therapeutics throughout his career. As an Associate Director and founding member of Moderna’s Delivery Innovation group, Al focused on novel materials and processes for effective mRNA delivery across the polymer and lipid nanoparticle spaces. These efforts contributed to techniques and IP critical for the rapid development of COVID-19 mRNA/LNP vaccines. Before Moderna, Al held various scientific and leadership roles at BIND Therapeutics. At BIND, Al focused on novel approaches to active nanoparticle targeting and nanoparticle processing techniques to enable small molecule and nucleic acid payloads.

Al earned his PhD in Chemistry at Boston College, specializing in simplified nucleic acid backbones, their chemical synthesis, and enzymatic processing and is an author on multiple papers and patents spanning the nucleic acid, nanoparticle targeting, polymeric, and lipid nanoparticle delivery of RNA fields.

Nishla joins Orna from Intellia Therapeutics, where she held many key roles, including Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Chief IP Counsel. During her time at Intellia, Nishla provided strategic legal advice as a member of the executive leadership team and was responsible for building and managing the company’s legal team. Prior to Intellia, she focused on patent litigation and intellectual property counseling for branded and innovative biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett and Dunner. She received her J.D. from Suffolk University Law School, where she graduated with academic distinction as summa cum laude. Nishla received her Ph.D. from the Division of Biological Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she also received B.S. degrees in Biology, Chemistry, and Chemical Engineering.

As Vice President of Program Management at Orna, Shiva supports the development progress of Orna’s circular RNA programs.

A seasoned Portfolio and Program Manager, Shiva provides strategic experience in building teams and processes to support programs and projects from Discovery through early phase clinical development. Prior to joining Orna she served in numerous Program and Portfolio Management roles at AskBio, Homology Medicines and Biogen, where she worked closely with Preclinical R&D and Novartis (NIBR) in External Collaborations and Research Alliance.

Shiva received her PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology from the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad, India and completed her post-doctoral fellowships at the National Cancer Institute, NIH. She also holds an MBA from UMass Amherst. Her hobbies include traveling and hiking with her family, and she is an active MRC volunteer, assisting with MRC health clinics.

Robert has contributed to the research and development of multiple biologic programs, including several currently under clinical evaluation and the approval of Sintilumab, a PD-1 mAb. He joins Orna from Takeda Pharmaceuticals, where he led the discovery and optimization of biological candidates and provided strategic support in overseeing their scientific operations. Prior to Takeda, Robert served as Vice President, Protein Sciences for Cogen Therapeutics, now Repertoire Immune Medicines. During his time as head of department, he was responsible for protein engineering, antibody technology, protein production and analytics. Robert has also held positions at Jounce Therapeutics, Adimab, ZymoGenetics, and ImClone Systems. He received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Texas at Austin and a B.A. in Biology and Biochemistry from Baylor University.

Ben is the Senior Vice President, CMC at Orna Therapeutics, where he is responsible for Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC).

Prior to joining Orna, Ben worked at Liquidia Technologies, where he co-invented Liquidia’s platform particle technology and led pipeline product development. As part of his role at Liquidia and its spin-out company, Envisia Therapeutics, he initiated several new technology initiatives and product development programs in ophthalmology, pain management, pulmonary hypertension, infectious disease, and vaccines. Over his 15 year tenure at Liquidia, he held a variety of roles including Senior Vice President, Research and Development, where he led platform technology, pharmaceutical development, analytical development, and nonclinical development activities for early and late-stage products.

Ben received a PhD in Chemistry from Duke University, where he focused on nanofabrication, nanostructure synthesis and materials chemistry. He has co-authored over 20 peer-reviewed publications in the fields of nanotechnology, colloid science, and drug delivery and has been a co-inventor on several patents and patent applications in the fields of nanotechnology and drug delivery. In addition to his studies, Ben is an Eagle Scout and plays the violin and viola!

Liz joined Orna in August 2021 as the Head of People and Culture. She brings over 10 years of experience in talent acquisition, leadership and talent development, and organizational design and effectiveness with global life sciences companies. At Orna, Liz is championing a mission-driven company culture that fosters growth, innovation, development, and having fun in the process.

Prior to joining Orna, Liz was most recently a People Strategy Leader at Foundation Medicine where she helped to develop the corporate People strategy as a member of the People Leadership Team for its 2000 employees. Liz also provided strategic HR partnership to multiple functions through periods of high growth, team transformation, and acquisition.

Previously, Liz held positions at TESARO, a GSK subsidiary, and The Bowdoin Group, an executive search firm. She received a BS in Biology from Trinity College where she also rowed on the women’s crew team and met her husband in the school cafeteria!

Will serves as Orna’s Chief Business Officer.

He brings more than 19 years of experience in research and development, venture capital, and business development to Orna and most recently served as Chief Operating Officer at Virtuoso Therapeutics. Prior to Virtuoso, Will was the Head of M&A at Biogen from 2019 to 2021. During his tenure at Biogen, he also served as the Interim Head of Corporate Development for most of 2020, overseeing M&A, BD&L, Strategy, and Alliance Management. Under his leadership, Biogen completed more than 15 business development transactions in 2020, including partnerships with Denali and Sage, two of the largest transactions in Neuroscience that year. Prior to Biogen, Will was an M&A Lead at BMS, where he led the acquisition of IFM and Cardioxyl, as well as the option agreement to acquire Promedior. Before joining the industry as a business development executive, Will was a venture investor at venBio and Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation. Outside of work, Will loves cycling in the summer and playing in the snow in the winter. Having snowboarded for almost 20 years, he converted to skiing five years ago so he could be strong enough to do the spectacular Haute Route from Chamonix to Zermatt!

Will holds a doctorate in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University, an MBA from the Wharton School, and a BS in Chemistry from the University of Florida.

LT is the Vice President of Bioanalytical Development at Orna, where he leads the BA and PK team. He works cross functionally across R&D with a focus on defining the company’s PCD strategy and analytical method development to support nonclinical studies and clinical analytics for our immune-oncology and rare disease programs.

With more than 17 years of experience in bioanalytics in the pre-clinical and clinical development of biologics, biosimilars, and peptide drugs, LT has worked in multiple therapeutic areas including oncology, autoimmune and neurological diseases. Prior to joining Orna, he led the analytical and bioanalytical sciences at Xilio Therapeutics, developing masked antibody and cytokine therapies for oncology.

LT received his PhD in Bio-organic Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India and spent three years as a postdoctoral fellow in Glycobiology at the Johns Hopkins Medical School. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling for wildlife and landscape photography. He is also fluent in Tamil, one of the oldest living classical languages, which has an unbroken literary tradition of more than two millennia!

Darren is the Head of Information Technology at Orna, leading the company’s technology operations and systems.

He offers a unique portfolio of qualifications including more than 20 years of results managing a broad range of IT functions and systems in diverse industries and corporate environments. In the life science vertical, Darren most recently worked at Voyager Therapeutics, where he was responsible for Cyber Security, Infrastructure and Architecture.

Darren holds a BFA in Photography from the Rhode Island School of Design and worked on the first high school textbook done completely on a computer called “Informal Geometry.”

As Head of Intellectual Property at Orna, Lulu leads the company’s global IP strategy, leveraging 10 years of experience building and defending biotech patent portfolios. Prior to joining Orna, she was a patent litigator and prosecutor at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett and Dunner, where she represented innovative pharmaceutical and biotech companies, including in the immunology, genetic disease, vaccine, and nucleic acid spaces.

Lulu earned her JD from Harvard Law School, PhD in Neurobiology from Harvard Medical School, and a bachelor’s degree in biology from Harvard College. In her spare time, she’s brainstorming ways to get to her colleagues at Orna’s new riverfront office on a standup paddleboard!