Isaac Cheng, MD
Morningside
Dr. Cheng joined Morningside in 2006 and focuses on biopharmaceutical and healthcare investments. He is currently a director of Liquidia Technologies, Cognoa, K-Gen, Artugen Therapeutics, Cognito Therapeutics, Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, NuCana PLC (NASDAQ:NCNA) and Alms Therapeutics. Previously he was a board member of Advanced Cell Diagnostics (sold to Bio-Techne). Prior to joining Morningside, Dr. Cheng was Director of Research and Development at Serica Technologies, a Morningside portfolio company which was sold to Allergan. In addition, Dr. Cheng was previously 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 is the recipient of numerous honors and awards including the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Fellowship, which supported his research under Dr. Rudy Tanzi at Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School.
Dan Watkins, PhD
Partner, Mercury Fund
Dan Watkins co-founded Mercury Fund where he leads the Sciences team. He focuses on both Physical and Life Science startups, many at the formation or university spinoff stage. Dr. Watkins has served in a number of operational roles including initial CEO of DNAtrix and Nanospectra Biosciences, both oncology companies. Prior to Mercury, he has been Vice President at a boutique investment banking firm and Worldwide Manager of Operations Control Systems for Scientific Software Intercomp. Dr. Watkins serves on the board of directors of a number of life sciences companies including: DNAtrix, GlycosBio (industrial biotechnology), Swift Biosciences (next generation sequencing), Sinopsys (medical device) and Resonant (novel antibody discovery). Dr. Watkins received his BS from Rice University and his MS and PhD from Carnegie Mellon University, all in Materials Science. Dan serves on the advisory boards of Northwestern University’s Innovation and New Ventures Office (INVO), the University of Michigan’s Venture Center Council, and BioHouston. He is also the co-founder of the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship at Rice University.