Azora is a clinical stage pharmaceutical company developing best-in-class aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) agonists for serious inflammatory diseases.

Investor in and advisor to life science companies with clinically de-risked assets- Compass Pathways (NASDAQ: CMPS) (investor) - Psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression- MedaSystems (investor) - expanded access software enabling access to unapproved medicines- Galliant (investor) - Applied Behavior Therapy for Autism

- Founded Verrica (NASDAQ: VRCA) to create effective therapies for common skin diseases- Developed Ycanth® the first FDA approved drug for molluscum contagiosum- Led company from founding into Phase 3 as a 2 employee company over 7 years as CEO- Raised over $100M from seed, angel, series A, series B, crossover and public market financings - Invented core technologies leading to 6 patents- Authored regulatory submissions and oversaw successful FDA meetings (pIND, IND, EofP2, SPA)- Provided strategic direction as President, Director and Chairman of the Board

- Developed and commercialized Think Gum® a Brain-Boosting Chewing Gum®- Winner of the first Stanford University Student Enterprises Ventures competition (now called Start-X).- Negotiated sale of the company (acquired by Think Products)- Millions of pieces of Think Gum sold in the US and internationally- Recognition in the Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, NBC and Fox

Applied Immunology provides research services to support the development of biological therapeutics, vaccines and diagnostics. We profile the immune system and its response to disease and treatment using the latest immunological analysis methods, supported by a regulatory strategy designed to interpret complex and evolving requirements.

I completed my PhD in Immunology in the lab of Dr. Ed Engleman. My thesis focused on the interaction between T-cells, monocytes and dendritic cells in cancer and autoimmune disease with a particular emphasis Multiple Sclerosis and its mouse model experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Other projects focused on cancer immunotherapy using nanoparticle based vaccines and cellular immunotherapy with dendritic cells, Th1 and Th17 T-cells. Additional contributions led to a publication in Nature resulting in the formation of Bolt Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ: BOLT).

- Laboratory Technician in Dr. Dan Littman’s Lab at NYU- Built constructs to investigate the impact of the RORγT promoter on Th17 lineage commitment