Jay Lichter, Ph.D.

Chairperson

Jay is an entrepreneur and seasoned investor in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical arena with over 25 years of expertise in management, scientific research, and business development. As managing director of Avalon Ventures, Jay led investments in recently partnered companies Synthorx, Sitari, and Calporta. Jay also led Avalon’s investments in or currently serves on the board of several privately held companies, including AristaMD, Fortis Therapeutics, Inc., Avelas BioSciences, Inc., COI Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Sova Pharmaceuticals, Inc., among other life science companies. Jay is the inventor on over 260 patents and patent applications, including 78 issued patents. Jay has been involved in licensing or merger and acquisition deals valued in excess of $1 billion.

Jay held postdoctoral positions in human genetics at Yale University and pharmacogenetics at DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. Jay earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a B.S. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.