3rd Annual Obesity & Cardiometabolic Innovation Forum

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Dr. Acosta is a physician, scientist, inventor, and entrepreneur. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, and Obesity Medicine and Nutrition. Dr. Acosta holds an MD from Universidad San Francisco De Quito, Ecuador, and a PhD from University of Florida, Gainesville. Currently, he is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Consultant in Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN. Dr. Acosta serves as the Delaney Family Director, Nutrition Obesity Research Program. He co-directs the Nutrition Obesity Research Program and directs the Precision Medicine for Obesity Program at Mayo Clinic.

Dr. Acosta's goal is to treat and ultimately cure obesity, which he considers this century's health epidemic. Dr. Acosta's research focus on precision medicine for obesity with the aim to identify the right therapy for the right patient, minimizing side effects. His research is supported by the National Institute of Health, many foundations and industry. He is a recognized national and international speaker with many patents, more than 140 peer reviewed publications, including publications in the Lancet, Gut and Gastroenterology, and many book chapters. His works has been featured in the New York Times, Time, CNN, NPR, among others. He won the 40-under-40 innovation award at Minneapolis Business Journal 2020 and Tekne Award (Winners exemplify Technology Innovation in Minnesota).

Annabel Samimy is a Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst in Healthcare, covering small/mid-cap Biopharmaceuticals at Stifel. Having touched a number of therapeutic areas across the biopharmaceutical space, her focus area is increasingly moving toward cardio-metabolic as innovation in the space expands. Prior to joining Stifel, Ms. Samimy was an analyst with Thomas Weisel Partners covering Specialty Pharmaceuticals, as well as UBS covering small/mid-cap Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology companies. Her past awards include the Wall Street Journal’s “Best on the Street” Analysts Survey (2009), and she has ranked three times in FT/StarMine—twice as #2 for Earnings Estimates (2014, 2019) and #3 for Stock Picker (2016). Before entering equity research, Ms. Samimy was an associate in the Structured/Project finance group at UBS. Ms. Samimy is a graduate of Tufts University, where she studied International Relations/Economics, and earned a Masters from Columbia University/SIPA where she studied International Finance and Business.

Blake Salisbury currently leads global BD activities as the SVP of Business Development at Innovent Biologics, a China based innovative Biopharmaceutical company. Blake has 33 years of experience in Pharma/biotech, primarily in business development (25 years), but also in sales, marketing, and pricing. While at Innovent, Blake and his team have completed over 30 in-licensing and out-licensing transactions with global biopharma companies (Lilly, Roche, Sanofi…), biotech companies both based in China (Genfleet, AnHeart….) and outside of China (Incyte, Adimab …). Prior to joining Innovent, Blake spent almost 24 years with Eli Lilly and Company where he closed over 50 transactions of various types, many of which were notables transactions with Chinese companies, starting as early as 2006.

David M. Kendall, MD, is currently Chief Medical Officer at Zealand Pharma, a role he has held since June 2022. Prior to this appointment, he served as Zealand Pharma’s Senior Global Medical Advisor in Metabolism.

David has more than 35 years of experience across a range of senior leadership roles, including Chief Medical Officer at MannKind Corporation; Vice President of Medical Affairs and Distinguished Medical Fellow at Eli Lilly and Company; Chief Scientific and Medical Officer of the American Diabetes Association; and Executive Director of Medical Affairs at Amylin Pharmaceuticals.

He is a trusted and respected leader in diabetes, obesity, metabolism, and cardiovascular and renal medicine, with a distinguished clinical and research career. His experience includes serving as Chief of Clinical Services and Medical Director at the International Diabetes Center, as well as faculty appointments at the University of Minnesota.

David completed medical school and postgraduate training in internal medicine, with specialization in diabetes, endocrinology, and metabolism, at the University of Minnesota (MD). He also holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Biology from St. Olaf College.

His expertise spans clinical medicine and clinical research, along with extensive experience in drug development and medical affairs within the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.

David Risinger, CFA is a Senior Research Analyst at Leerink Partners covering Diversified Biopharmaceuticals. He has been a top-ranked Biopharmaceutical sellside analyst for over 20 years and is highly regarded for his strategic industry perspectives and deep analytical work.

Prior to joining Leerink Partners in 2022, Mr. Risinger served as Head of U.S. Major and Specialty Pharmaceuticals Equity Research at Morgan Stanley & Co from 2009-2021. Previously he was Head of Global Healthcare Research and Senior U.S. Pharmaceutical Analyst at Merrill Lynch & Co. and also worked as a research associate and senior analyst covering Healthcare Distribution & Technology. He began his Wall Street career at Dillon, Read & Co.

Mr. Risinger earned a B.A. in Political Science from Bucknell University and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Biotechnology executive, entrepreneur, physician-scientist, and board member with deep expertise in drug and device development across longevity science, immunology, dermatology, obesity, rare diseases, and neuroscience. Currently CEO and Director of Rubedo Life Sciences, an AI-enabled clinical-stage biotech focused on age-related diseases, whose lead drug is in Phase 2. It has potential in autoimmune, dermatology, cardiometabolic and neurodegenerative disorders. Founder and board member of Steelhead Therapeutics, a complement therapeutics company and board director at Neurodon. Neurodon is a private near clinical stage biotech company whose lead drug is a novel SERCA activator nearing IND and has potential to treat obesity, diabetes and cardiometabolic diseases.

Previously CEO Kira Pharmaceuticals, Sienna Biopharmaceuticals, and held senior R&D leadership roles at Allergan and Kythera, contributing to approvals of major global products including BOTOX, Juvederm, Aczone, Tazorac, Kybella, and Latisse. UCLA faculty member, board-certified dermatologist, and experienced biotech founder with expertise in company formation, fundraising, IPOs, and clinical development.

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Jay Olson is Managing Director and Senior Analyst covering Biotechnology. Prior to joining Oppenheimer, Jay covered SMID-cap names and worked on the Large Cap Pharmaceuticals team at Goldman Sachs for 4 years after 4 years on the #1 II-ranked Large Cap Pharmaceuticals team at Sanford Bernstein. Prior to Wall Street, Jay spent 18 years in the pharmaceutical industry, working mostly for Pfizer in finance, marketing and business development. Jay received an M.B.A. in Finance and an M.S. in Chemical Engineering both from MIT, and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Tufts University. He also holds the CFA designation.

Joel is an Associate Partner and practice leader in the Ipsos Healthcare Advisory group, a leading strategic advisory firm for life sciences companies. With 15 years of experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, he provides insights and guidance to clients on various aspects of drug development and partnering in oncology therapeutics. Prior to joining Ipsos, Joel spent over a decade in the life sciences industry, both on the consulting side and is BD&L/commercial strategy for oncology-focused Biopharma companies. His mission is to help clients make informed and strategic decisions that optimize their value proposition and maximize their potential in the dynamic and competitive life sciences landscape.

Joel holds a PhD in Organic Chemistry from UCSD/Scripps and was an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at The Rockefeller University. He received his BA in Biology from Cornell with honors.

Jon Rees has served as Chief Executive Officer of MitoRx since founding the Company in 2021. He brings more than 20 years of experience across biotech, venture capital, pharma and life sciences strategy. Prior to MitoRx, Jon advised and supported emerging biotechnology companies on financing, business development and investor engagement, contributing to many successful financing rounds. He was instrumental in securing the first venture investment for Ducentis BioTherapeutics, which was subsequently acquired in a deal valued at up to $400 million.

Previously, Jon served as CEO of OBN, the UK’s leading life sciences membership organization, transforming it into a financially sustainable and influential network supporting hundreds of innovative companies. He also established BioTrinity as one of Europe’s leading life sciences investment conferences and helped drive significant sector fundraising and growth initiatives. Jon has held roles with Takeda Rare Diseases, Life Science Partners (LSP), and several advisory and investor relations organizations in the life sciences ecosystem. He serves as a Trustee of PKD Charity UK.

Jon completed postdoctoral research in metabolic engineering at the University of Oxford and holds a PhD from Royal Holloway, University of London.

Dr. Jyothis George serves as the Chief Medical Officer of NodThera, driving the clinical acceleration of oral small molecules that quell chronic inflammation to reduce cardiovascular risk and to improve metabolic and brain health. A pioneer in NLRP3 inflammasome inhibition, NodThera is currently running the industry’s largest and longest clinical program in this class. With multiple clinical readouts for NodThera’s assets in 2026, Jyothis is laser-focused on accelerating the path to approval, leveraging decades of global leadership in cardiometabolic drug development and regulatory strategy.

Blockbuster CardioMetabolic Development

Prior to NodThera, Jyothis held pivotal executive roles at some of the world's leading pharmaceutical organizations:

Amgen: As Global Medical Vice President, he led the General Medicine Therapeutic Area, overseeing research, development and delivery across CardioMetabolism, Bone, Neurology, and Nephrology with multiple blockbusters including Evolocumab (Repatha®).

Novo Nordisk: As Corporate Vice President, he successfully delivered major regulatory studies for assets including semaglutide (Wegovy®) and launched global educational platforms like ObesityME.

Boehringer Ingelheim: As Global Head of Clinical Development and Medical Affairs (Cardiometabolism), he directed the teams for empagliflozin (Jardiance®)—the first diabetes treatment to earn an FDA cardiovascular mortality indication—and linagliptin (Trajenta®).

Clinical & Academic Excellence

Jyothis has served on the steering committees of six major cardiovascular outcomes trials and has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications. He is the founder of the CardioMetabolic Health Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to personalizing care at scale. He serves as Visiting Professor of Cardiometabolic Medicine at the University of Oxford.

Leland Gershell is a Managing Director and Senior Biotechnology Analyst at Oppenheimer. Before joining the firm in 2018, Leland was Chief Financial Officer of Capricor Therapeutics and Tonix Pharmaceuticals. Leland has former sell-side and buy-side experience and began his career on Cowen's biotechnology research team, where he provided sole coverage focused on the small and mid-cap segment. Leland has also authored numerous editorial and review articles and is an inventor on patents for Merck's Zolinza®. He earned his M.D. and Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Columbia University and his B.A. magna cum laude in Chemistry and Asian Studies from Dartmouth College.

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Mike heads Lumanity’s Advanced Therapies and Rare Diseases practices specializing in strategic development of platform technologies and applications for genetically defined patient populations and broad polygenic diseases. He also co-heads the hematologic oncology and cardiometabolics practices.

He has 25+ years of experience in biotech ventures supporting new company creation and defining strategic development and early commercial strategy for academic and biotech inventions pertaining to nucleic acids, gene therapy and cellular platforms applied across monogenetic diseases and oncology. Mike studied the molecular basis of cancer at the Kimmel Cancer Institute and is recognized for his extensive intellectual property and publication portfolio pertaining to recombinational DNA repair and molecular diagnostics. Mike is a co-inventor of non-nuclease gene editing methodology currently used commercially in agricultural trait improvement and in development for therapeutic applications.

Mike holds an MBA, with a concentration in Biotechnology from the Alfred Lerner School of Business and Economics, at the University of Delaware, an MS in Molecular Pharmacology from Thomas Jefferson University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Delaware. Industry positions involved translational research, strategic planning, technology transfer, finance and business development.

Mike is a Member of the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center Advisory Council, enjoys mentoring early-stage life science entrepreneurs and is a member of ASGCT, ARM, SITC, ASCO and AHA professional societies.

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Philip J Larsen is the CEO of SixPeaks Therapeutics, a biotechnology company dedicated to discovery and development of novel therapeutics in the field of obesity and related cardiometabolic diseases. Philip is an MD PhD from the University of Copenhagen. After four years of medical practice (internal medicine, neurology) he went from academic medicine to life sciences industry. In addition, Philip holds a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Copenhagen and a PhD in neuroscience. Philip has 25+ years of pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry experience in the field of diabetes and obesity. Philip has served as senior executive in several large innovation based pharmaceutical companies. Most recently Philip J. Larsen was senior vice president, Global Head of Pharma Research and Early Development Precision Medicine at Bayer AG. Prior to taking his current role he has served as Chief Scientific Officer and member of the executive board at Grünenthal GmbH. Before joining Grünenthal he served in various senior executive roles in pharmaceutical R&D organizations within multinational pharmaceutical companies such as Sanofi, AstraZeneca, and Eli Lilly. After few years of work at NovoNordisk and Zealand Pharma, Philip co-founded the Danish biotechnology company Rheoscience in 2001 also concentrating on obesity and diabetes.

Dr. Seth is a physician and serial entrepreneur recognized for pioneering digital health tools and advancing AI in healthcare. He is the Founder and CEO of nymble health, an AI-driven health companion that seamlessly supports patients in their obesity treatment journey through a frictionless, app-free interface. Previously, he served as President and CMO of InputHealth, a next-generation electronic medical record and patient engagement platform, which was acquired by TELUS Health in 2020. Following the acquisition, he became Chief Medical Director of Innovation at TELUS Health, where he led advancements in the Collaborative Health Record and spearheaded clinical AI strategy. In addition, he co-founded Polyarticular, a nonprofit initiative dedicated to combating medical misinformation on social media. Dr. Seth also mentors health AI startups through the Creative Destruction Lab, contributes to teaching and clinical research at the University of Toronto and McMaster University, and hosts the North of Patient podcast.

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CBT Advisors CEO Steve Dickman has worked in consulting and venture capital for more than twenty-five years. He founded CBT Advisors in 2003 and has worked on storytelling and strategy with nearly five hundred private biotechnology and life sciences clients. Much of the firm’s work focuses on drafting business sections for NASDAQ IPOs. More than one hundred clients have gone public, raising more than $13 billion. Previously, Steve was a venture capitalist with TVM Capital.

Tim Opler is a Managing Director in Stifel’s Global Healthcare Group leading strategic and financing transactions across multiple healthcare sectors. Tim co-founded Torreya and became part of Stifel through the 2023 acquisition.

For nearly 20 years, Tim has focused exclusively on life sciences advisory; he has completed more than 150 financing, licensing, and M&A transactions across the industry with a total value of over $100 billion. Highlights include running the largest share buyback in history for Pfizer, leading a $3.9 billion convertible bond exchange for Amgen, working on Chiron’s $5.1 billion sale to Novartis, and managing Genentech’s inaugural $2 billion bond issue.

Before co-founding Torreya, Tim was Vice President of Strategy at FibroGen, where he helped raise $117 million for the company and negotiated licensing deals. Previously, Tim was a Managing Director in Healthcare Investment Banking at Credit Suisse First Boston and held senior roles at W.R. Hambrecht, Deutsche Bank, and Merrill Lynch.

Prior to his career in investment banking, Tim was a professor in the finance department at Ohio State University. He earned a B.S. in Economics and Philosophy from Florida State University, and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Tim is a Senior Associate at Forbion, where he has been part of the investment team since February 2022, operating from the Munich office. His focus involves investing and building companies across therapeutic areas and modalities. Tim was part of the team that helped build Kynexis and holds observer roles on the board of AAVantgarde Bio, AIRNA, KyNexis, and Seamless Therapeutics.

Before his tenure at Forbion, Tim worked for L.E.K. Consulting as a Life Sciences Specialist. In 2021, he received his Ph.D. in Stem Cell Biology & Medicine from the University of Cambridge, where he investigated the epigenetic and transcriptional regulation of stem cell differentiation in health and disease by using and developing novel single-cell multi-omics sequencing technologies. Tim published research in multiple leading journals, including Nature, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Genetics, and Cell Stem Cell.

Ting (Tim) Xiao, CFA, is the Chief Financial Officer and a former Board Member of Eccogene, a clinical-stage biotech company focused on innovative therapeutics for cardiometabolic diseases. With nearly 20 years of experience as an investor and advisor in the life sciences sector, Tim has been a key figure at Eccogene since joining its board in December 2020.

He is a founding member and Partner at Delos Capital, where he has helped lead the firm’s investment strategy since its inception in 2015. His extensive background in life sciences also includes directorship at Zenas BioPharma (NASDAQ: ZBIO, May 2024 – June 2025), Clover Biopharma (HKEx: 2197, Nov 2019 – Apr 2022), Luqa Pharma (acq. by China Medical Systems), and senior roles in investment banking, most recently with Goldman Sachs.

Tim holds an M.S. in Biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University and a B.S. in International Economics from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He is a CFA charterholder.