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.

Amy is the Director of Immunology at Orna where she leads discovery efforts and in situ cell therapy programs.

Amy is an experienced scientist whose research has focused on T cell signaling, cellular reprogramming, lineage commitment, CRISPR/Cas9, and engineered immunotherapies. Previously, Amy held positions as a Principal Scientist in Cell Therapy, Immuno-Oncology at Intellia therapeutics where she led a team to develop engineered T cell therapeutics for solid tumors and as an Instructor at Harvard Medical School conducting research on hematopoietic stem cell expansion. Her passion for science extends out of the lab and into the kitchen as well! Amy is an avid cook and is always on the lookout for Tex Mex.

She obtained her PhD in Immunology from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and completed two post-doctoral fellowships at Washington University School of Medicine and Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School.

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!

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.

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!

John is the Chief Financial Officer of Orna, where he is responsible for overseeing the financial operations of the company and making decisions based on the company’s financial stability. These duties include monitoring cash flow, developing best practices for the company’s finances, and coming up with strategic plans to improve the company’s overall financial health.

Prior to his role at Orna, John served as Senior Vice President, Finance for resTORbio, Inc. from March 2020 until July 2020 and prior to that served as Vice President, Finance since October 2017. John served as Chief Financial Officer for Eleven Biotherapeutics, Inc. from January 2016 until October 2017 and prior to that served as Senior Vice President from June 2013 to December 2015 and Director of Financial Reporting from April 2012 to June 2013. John also held various positions at Clinical Data, Inc. from August 2007 to June 2011, most recently, Vice President of Corporate Finance.

He began his career working for the accounting firm of Coopers & Lybrand LLP, now known as PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. John received a BS in Business Administration from the University of Vermont and is a Certified Public Accountant. As a life-long Bostonian and an avid sports fan, John was also in attendance for the greatest comeback in Superbowl history (Superbowl LI).

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.