Our Team
We have assembled an expert team with the courage to learn, iterate and make leaps together. We are guided by a renowned community of board members and scientific advisors with deep expertise in drug development, immunology, systems biology and AI.
We are growing our team of individuals committed to continuous innovation to enable us to scale our work to as many diseases and patients as possible.
Margo Georgiadis is a seasoned executive with more than 30 years of experience driving technology-led business transformation to deliver superior products and investor returns. Prior to co-founding Montai, she held multiple leadership roles, including President and CEO of Ancestry, President of Americas at Google, EVP at Discover Financial Services, and Partner at McKinsey & Company. She is also an experienced investor, having worked with General Catalyst and Synetro Group to fund and scale next-generation technology and healthcare platforms. Margo is widely recognized for her business and community leadership, having been named to Fortune's "50 Most Powerful Women in Business" and Leaders50's list of the world's most inspiring leaders. She also has received the Forbes Excellence Award in Innovation, Chicago Innovation’s “Visionary Award” and was named Utah's Executive of the Year. Margo earned a BA in Economics from Harvard College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Dr. Hok Hei Tam brings more than 15 years of experience in machine learning, software engineering, and bioinformatics. He has a track record of co-founding five Flagship Pioneering portfolio companies, including Sail Biomedicines and Invaio Sciences, where he served as CTO. Hok Hei was named to BioSpace’s inaugural 40 Under 40 class. Previously, he also led the development of a cloud-based EMR system for Syrian refugees with MIT Sana. Recognized for his impactful research, he was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and has co-authored over 30 publications and patents. He holds dual B.Sc. degrees in mathematics and chemical engineering from The Ohio State University and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from MIT.
Dr. Lamya Shihabuddin is a veteran scientific leader with experience spanning private biotech, large biotech, and major pharmaceutical companies. She previously served as CSO at a 5AM Ventures stealth startup and spent more than 20 years in R&D leadership at Genzyme/Sanofi, advancing multiple programs from discovery through early clinical development and helping develop Spinraza for spinal muscular atrophy in collaboration with Ionis Pharmaceuticals. A recognized scientific leader, she has authored over 70 scientific articles and holds more than 50 patents. She earned an M.Sc. in Neurophysiology from the American University of Beirut and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Miami, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at The Salk Institute.
Dr. Kyle Chiang has over 15 years of early-stage biotech experience spanning scientific, operational, and program leadership roles. His background includes serving as CSO at Senda Biosciences, COO at LogicBio Therapeutics, and an early program lead at aTyr Pharma. Notably, his undergraduate research directly contributed to the discovery of Tafamidis, and he has co-authored over 40 scientific publications and patents. He holds a B.S. in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from UC San Diego and a Ph.D. in macromolecular, cellular structure, and chemistry from The Scripps Research Institute.
Dr. Chris Stevens brings over two decades of senior management, clinical development, and strategic advisory expertise across the biopharmaceutical industry. He previously held executive roles including Chief Medical Officer at Arsanis, Senior Vice President of Clinical Development at Alnara Pharmaceuticals, and medical director positions at Altus Pharmaceuticals and Circe Biomedical, alongside extensive consulting work for nearly 30 biotech companies. Throughout his industry career, he has guided clinical strategies from IND filings through Phase 3 trials and contributed to the Millennium/Takeda team that secured approvals for vedolizumab. Prior to his industry transition, he spent ten years as a clinical and research gastroenterologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, served as co-director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center and as an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School authoring more than 30 peer-reviewed scientific publications.
John Hebert brings more than 20 years of life science dealmaking experience that covers the full arc of a transaction, from sourcing and negotiation through integration and alliance management. His strategic transactions range from discovery platform collaborations to international commercial partnerships. Most recently, he served as Vice President of Corporate Development and Alliance Management at Deciphera Pharmaceuticals for six years, where he was a member of the team behind the sale of Deciphera to Ono Pharmaceutical for $2.4 billion. Previously, he held roles of increasing responsibility at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, EMD Serono, and Genzyme. He holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a B.A. in History from Boston College.
Chair of the Board
Yvonne Hao has more than 25 years of experience as a senior executive. She currently serves as Chief Operating Officer and General Partner of Flagship Pioneering, supporting its ecosystem of companies and spearheading special initiatives. Yvonne was most recently the Secretary of the Executive Office of Economic Development for the State of Massachusetts. Prior to her public service, she was Co-founder, Managing Director and Advisor at investment firm Cove Hill Partners, Operating Partner at Pillar Ventures and Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of PillPack. She is a former Operating Partner at Bain Capital, where she held interim CEO and COO roles and worked closely with portfolio companies. Yvonne earned a B.A. in economics and Asian studies from Williams College and an M.Phil. in Development/Economics from the University of Cambridge.
Board Director
André Andonian offers over three decades of experience advising global corporations on strategic, operational, and organizational transformations, with deep expertise in the APAC region. During 34 years at McKinsey & Company, he served as Chairman of Japan, Managing Partner of Korea, and a long-term member of the global board, retiring as Senior Partner Emeritus. He began his career at Masco Corporation and IBM. Highly recognized in his field, he was named a Fulbright Scholar and graduated with highest distinction across multiple academic disciplines. He holds a BSc in Engineering, an MA and BA in Social & Economic Sciences from institutions in Vienna, and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Board Director
Larry Hamann has over 30 years of drug discovery expertise and executive leadership across major pharmaceutical and biotech organizations. He currently serves as Co-founder, President, and CEO of Interdict Bio, following executive roles leading large research teams at Takeda, Celgene, Novartis, and Bristol Myers Squibb. He has overseen teams responsible for more than 22 clinical-stage compounds—including FDA-approved drugs Onglyza™ and Daklinza™—and was awarded the American Chemical Society (ACS) Division of Medicinal Chemistry Award in 2022. His scientific credentials include co-authoring over 90 publications and holding more than 70 patents.
Co-founder and Board Director
Ignacio Martinez is a veteran executive with extensive venture capital and operational experience across life sciences, agriculture, human health, and sustainability. He is a General Partner at Flagship Pioneering and founder/founding director of companies such as Senda Biosciences, CIBO Technologies, Inari Agriculture, and Indigo Agriculture, following leadership as Managing Director of Syngenta Ventures and CFO of Progenika Group. He has demonstrated a strong track record of scaling platforms globally and managing corporate venture funds across Europe and the Americas. He earned a B.S. in Economics and Business Administration from Deusto University and an International M.B.A. from Instituto de Empresa and WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management.
Board Director
Dr. Michael Severino brings more than two decades of biopharmaceutical leadership, driving the research, development, and approval of over a dozen therapies. He currently serves as CEO of Sarepta Therapeutics, following executive roles as CEO of Tessera Therapeutics, Vice Chairman and President at AbbVie, and Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Amgen. His accomplishments include scaling leading franchises in immunology and oncology and building core capabilities in computational biology and precision medicine. He earned his B.S. in biochemistry summa cum laude from the University of Maryland (Phi Beta Kappa) and his M.D. from Johns Hopkins University, completing post-doctoral training at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Board Director
Phyllis Yale has four decades of healthcare expertise in payers, providers, and private equity strategy. She is an Advisory Partner at Bain & Company, where she spent 40 years building the firm's healthcare practice, and serves on corporate boards including Bristol Myers Squibb and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. Her leadership has been widely recognized, earning her a Lifetime Achievement Award from Consulting Magazine and NACD New England's Director of the Year Award for Leadership in Governance. She earned an AB in Economics from Harvard University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Board Observer
Dr. Pietro Antonio Tataranni has extensive global expertise as a clinician, research scientist, and corporate leader across clinical development, medical affairs, and life sciences. He currently serves as Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of R&D Life Sciences at PepsiCo, following senior executive positions including Senior Vice President and Head of Global Medical Affairs at Sanofi and Head of the Obesity, Diabetes and Energy Metabolism Unit at the National Institutes of Health. He earned his M.D. from the Catholic University School of Medicine in Rome and completed a specialty diploma in Endocrinology, Metabolic Diseases, and Diabetes at the same institution.
Vice Principal and Head of College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, Muirhead Chair of Medicine, Versus Arthritis Professor of Rheumatology, University of Glasgow
Professor and Chair of Biochemistry and Immunology, Trinity College
Eugene Braunwald Professor of Medicine, Harvard University and Brigham and Women's Hospital; Director of the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention
Otto Krayer Professor of Systems Pharmacology, Head of the Harvard Program in Therapeutic Sciences (HiTS), Harvard Medical School; Co-founder, Merrimack Pharmaceuticals
President, Research and Development, Repertoire Immune Medicines. Previously Co-founder, President and CEO of Pandion Therapeutics; SVP and CSO at Pfizer, where he launched the Centers for Therapeutic Innovation; and VP and Global Head of Respiratory, Inflammation and Autoimmunity Research at MedImmune, a Division of AstraZeneca