Traversa Therapeutics, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of RNAi Delivery Technologies. The Company strives to rapidly advance short interfering RNA (siRNA) platform delivery technologies for use by RNAi therapeutic companies in targeting a wide variety of acute, chronic and infectious human diseases. Traversa is focused on the optimization of this platform delivery technology, as well as advancement of its own therapeutic programs for the treatment of Leukemia and Glioblastoma.

The Company was founded in La Jolla, California in mid-2006, and has secured worldwide exclusive licenses to intellectual property developed during the past five years by Steven F. Dowdy, Ph.D., and his research group at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the University of California San Diego relating to siRNA delivery technology and induction of RNA Interference (RNAi).

Hans A. Petersen, MBA. - President and CEO

Mr. Petersen brings 18 years of Senior Management and Operating experience to Traversa.  His background includes M&A, fund-raising, IPO and business development experience.  Prior to founding Traversa, Hans was the President and CEO of Meriture, a structural bioinformatics company focused on the inhibition of HIV, Influenza and Ebola fusion proteins.  Prior to Meriture, Hans served as Vice President at Financial Profiles in San Diego.  There he managed all company product development and operations, headed a team of over 50 employees, and played a key role in that company's success.

Previously, Hans was Vice President at Creditland, an online financial services exchange in San Francisco where he developed the Company's production decision system and assisted in raising three rounds of venture capital financing.  Previously, at Fair Isaac, he managed the profit and loss of a computational modeling product, growing with the Company through a successful IPO.  Hans earned his M.B.A. from the University of San Diego, graduating as valedictorian, and completed his B.S. in Computer Science from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Curt W. Bradshaw, Ph.D. - Vice President of Research and Development

Dr. Bradshaw is responsible for all Research and Development of RNAi and RNAi delivery technologies at Traversa. Previously at Pfizer, Curt was responsible for chemistry discovery and development efforts at the Pfizer subsidiary CovX. Curt was a cofounder of CovX in 2002, and continued through its acquisition by Pfizer. While at CovX, Curt's team identified novel applications of the company's antibody platform technology, advancing the company's research and development programs, and leading small-molecule and peptide programs. Previously, at Abbott Laboratories and Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Curt held positions of increasing responsibility supporting pre-clinical, clinical and commercial therapeutic programs of both small molecules and biologics. Dr. Bradshaw received his PhD in organic chemistry from Texas A&M University and conducted research at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California.

Steven F. Dowdy, Ph.D. - Scientific Founder

Dr. Dowdy is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and a Professor of Cellular & Molecular Medicine at the University of California San Diego, School of Medicine. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine and did his postdoctoral work with Dr. Robert A. Weinberg at the Whitehead Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His laboratory is focused on understanding the molecular basis of G1 cell cycle progression and its deregulation during oncogenesis. In the course of these investigations, his laboratory developed a method for PTD-mediated intracellular delivery of macromolecular therapeutics, including siRNAs. Dr. Dowdy also serves on multiple biotechnology and large pharmaceutical Scientific Advisory Boards.

Francois Ferre, Ph.D. - Board of Directors

Dr. Ferre is a founder, co-President and co-Chief Executive Officer of Althea Technologies, Inc. a San Diego company that provides services and technologies to streamline drug development. He has over twenty years of experience in cancer research and HIV clinical development. Dr. Ferre has held management positions at Cytometrics and The Immune Response Corporation. Dr. Ferre is a leader in gene quantification and biomarker development with over fifteen years of experience in the field. He has published several authoritative reviews on the topic of gene quantification, co-edited a bestseller book on PCR with Dr. Kary Mullis and Dr. Richard Gibbs, and edited a book on the topic of gene quantification. Dr. Ferre received his Ph.D. in Molecular Oncology from the Pasteur Institute in Lille, France and did his post-doctoral training at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Ferre was the winner of the 2005 E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year award in the Life Sciences category.

Isaac Cheng, M.D. - Board of Directors

Dr. Cheng represents Morningside Venture Investments, a Morningside Group company focusing on investments in the life science sector. Dr. Cheng was previously Director of R&D at Serica Technologies, Inc. another Morningside Group portfolio company. Prior to Serica, he was an Associate Director at Novartis Pharmaceuticals in Clinical Development and Medical Affairs. Dr. Cheng received his M.D. from Tufts University School of Medicine. He was also the recipient of a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Fellowship which supported his research under Dr. Rudy Tanzi in the Genetics and Aging Unit of the Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School.

Bharatt Chowrira, Ph.D., J.D. - Board of Directors

Dr. Chowrira is the Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Nektar Therapeutics. His responsibilities include overseeing and managing all manufacturing, bioanalytical, and CMC operations across the Company, as well as corporate strategic functions including business development, licensing and marketing. He also serves as Chairman of Nektar India Pvt., Ltd.

Dr. Chowrira had previously served as Executive Director, Worldwide Licensing & External Research at Merck & Co. in San Francisco. He was responsible for identifying and evaluating R&D, licensing and partnering opportunities across all therapeutics areas, therapeutic modalities (including small molecules, biologics, vaccines and oligonucleotides), and technology platforms, throughout Asia.

Prior to Merck, Dr. Chowrira was a member of the executive management team at Sirna Therapeutics, a development-stage biopharmaceutical firm focused on the discovery and development of RNAi-based drugs that selectively target disease-causing genes and viruses. As Vice President at Sirna, he played a pivotal role in the restructuring and 2003 relaunch of the company, the development of its pipeline and intellectual property portfolio, and ultimately the sale of Sirna to Merck. Dr. Chowrira earned his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from the University of Vermont and his J.D. degree from the College of Law at the University of Denver. He earned his M.S. in Molecular Virology from Illinois State University and his B.Sc. in Microbiology from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India.

William G. Kaelin Jr., M.D. - Scientific Advisory Board

Dr. Kaelin is a Professor in the Department of Medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and currently serves as Associate Director for Basic Research at the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. He obtained his undergraduate and M.D. degrees from Duke University and completed his training in internal medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he served as chief medical resident. He was a clinical fellow in medical oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and later a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of David Livingston, during which time he was a McDonnell Scholar. Dr. Kaelin is a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Institute of Medicine. He recently served on the National Cancer Institute Board of Scientific Advisors, the AACR Board of Trustees, and the Institute of Medicine National Cancer Policy Board. He is a recipient of the Paul Marks Prize for cancer research from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Prize from the AACR.

Yitzhak Tor, Ph.D. - Scientific Advisory Board

Dr. Tor is a Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Traylor Scholar in Organic Chemistry, at the University of California, San Diego. He carried out his doctorate work with Abraham Shanzer at the Weizmann Institute of Science focusing on the development of synthetic siderophores. He earned his Ph.D. in 1990 and crossed the Atlantic for a postdoctoral work at the California Institute of Technology, with Peter B. Dervan. After three fascinating years in Pasadena where he was exposed to the remarkable area of nucleic acids, he left California to take his first faculty appointment at the University of Chicago. In 1994, after exactly one year, he moved to the University of California, San Diego. His research interests are diverse and include RNAsmall molecule interactions, the development of novel antiviral and antibacterial agents, the synthesis and utilization of modified nucleosides, nucleotides and oligonuelcotides, as well as the development and implementation of new drug delivery vehicles. He is the Editor in Chief of Perspectives in Medicinal Chemistry.