Leadership
Brian Freeman, MD
Chief Executive Officer & President, Co-Founder & Director
Dr. Freeman is an entrepreneur, physician, and co-founder of Energesis. He previously co-founded Zafgen, a venture-backed company that pioneered the development of MetAP2 inhibitors for obesity, raised over $100M in venture capital, and became publicly traded in 2014. He has prior experience in biopharmaceutical management consulting at SVB Leerink, where he advised pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies on strategic acquisitions, in-licensing, pipeline prioritization, and clinical development. Dr. Freeman is board-certified in neurology, having trained at the University of Pennsylvania, obtained his medical degree and Masters in Molecular Cell Biology from Washington University in St. Louis, and completed his undergraduate studies at MIT.
Olivier Boss, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer, Co-Founder & Director
Dr. Boss is a recognized expert in energy metabolism and mitochondria. Prior to Energesis he obtained broad experience in various R&D roles, most recently at Sirtris (acquired by GlaxoSmithKline) and Adipogenix. Previously, he served as head of a target discovery/validation group for diabetes and obesity, and led a major program on mitochondrial bioenergetics at Novartis. Dr. Boss discovered the first non-brown adipose mitochondrial uncoupling proteins UCP2 and UCP3 and established Energesis’ screening platform with the newly discovered brown adipocyte progenitor cells in skeletal muscle. He has more than 50 publications in peer-reviewed journals, edited a book on the Pharmacotherapy of Obesity (CRC Press), and has several issued and pending patents. Dr. Boss performed his post-doctoral training at Harvard Medical School with Dr. Brad Lowell and working in close association with the laboratory of Bruce Spiegelman.
Directors & Advisors
Mitch Sayare, PhD
Director
Dr. Sayare founded and served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ImmunoGen (acquired, AbbVie), a biotechnology company engaged in the research and development of antibody-drug conjugates for cancer therapy. During his tenure with ImmunoGen, Dr. Sayare was responsible for leading a successful IPO and raising over $300 million in venture capital and public equity financing for the company. Dr. Sayare currently serves on the board of Advanced Aesthetic Technologies and as Chairman of Altimmune (ALT), a publicly traded company developing next generation incretin agonists for obesity.
Todd Zion, PhD
Director
Dr. Zion is the co-founder, President, and CEO of Akston Biosciences Corporation. Since its founding in 2011, Akston has raised over $80 million in equity and partnership financing to develop its novel platform of targeted precision proteins and immuno-enhancing proteins for use in veterinary medicine. Prior to starting Akston, Dr. Zion founded SmartCells to develop SmartInsulin, the world’s first glucose-regulated insulin for treating diabetes. In December 2010, Merck and Co. acquired SmartCells for $500M.
Ed Cannon, PhD
Director
Dr. Cannon is currently the founder, President and CEO of NovAb, Inc., which is developing a novel class of antibody biotherapeutics. He was formerly President and CEO of Unigen Pharmaceuticals, CEO of AerovectRx, President and CEO of AdipoGenix, founding CEO of Elixir Pharmaceuticals, a founder, director, and President of the Therapeutics Division of Dyax Corp, and a founder, director and CSO of Hygeia Sciences. He has served as a director at SmartCells, Akston Biosciences, and Diamune Therapeutics. Ed earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Georgia, and studied molecular immunology at Harvard Medical School.
Eric Ravussin, PhD
Scientific Advisory Board
Dr. Ravussin is the Boyd Professor, Director of the Nutrition Obesity Research Center, and Douglas L. Gordon Chair in Diabetes and Metabolism at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, LA. He is a world expert in the conduct of translational research in obesity and type 2 diabetes. Over his more than 30 year career, he has conducted numerous clinical investigations on measures of energy expenditure, body composition, carbohydrate metabolism and biomarkers of aging in health and disease states. More specifically over the past 15 years he has established a wet lab studying skeletal muscle and adipose tissue cross talks and the relationship of these two tissues on inflammation, nutrient partitioning and insulin sensitivity. He has published more than 450 peer-reviewed manuscripts in the field of obesity, type 2 diabetes and aging. He has mentored more than 60 postdoctoral fellows. Over the past 10 years he has conducted translational research on the impact of caloric restriction on biomarkers of aging, looked at the impact of weight loss and weight gain (overfeeding) in the cross talk between adipose and skeletal muscle and has conducted randomized clinical trial on the impact of dietary, activity, surgical and pharmacological interventions on insulin sensitivity.
Frank Greenway, MD
Scientific Advisory Board
Dr. Greenway is Chief Medical Officer and Professor at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, LA. As an endocrinologist and clinical researcher Dr. Greenway has served as the principal investigator on numerous clinical trials sponsored by industry as well as by the National Institutes of Health. He has played a role in the development of essentially all the approved obesity drugs developed since the 1970’s, including many that never reached the market. He is a member of a number of professional societies including the American College of Physicians (fellow), The Obesity Society (fellow), The Obesity Treatment Foundation (President) and The Obesity Medicine Association (Fellow). In addition to publishing more than 250 articles, Dr. Greenway also holds several patents.
Jean-Paul Giacobino, MD, PhD
Scientific Advisory Board & Co-Founder of Energesis
Dr. Giacobino is Professor Emeritus of Medical Biochemistry at the University of Geneva Medical School, Switzerland. He is an expert on adipose tissues (white and brown), endocrine disorders, and obesity. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts, most of them in the fields of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and pharmacology. Dr. Giacobino co-discovered the brown adipose tissue progenitor cells in skeletal muscle, and also led the team that discovered the novel thermogenic mitochondrial uncoupling proteins UCP2 and UCP3. His work has been the basis of several issued and pending patents.
