About us

Paul L. Berns is the Executive Chairman of Tenvie Therapeutics. Mr. Berns is a Managing Director of ARCH Venture Partners and is the founder and Executive Chairman of Neumora Therapeutics. Mr. Berns has been a member of ARCH Venture Partners since August 2018 and became a Managing Director in 2021. Mr. Berns previously served as a co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors for HI-Bio, which was acquired by Biogen in July 2024. Mr. Berns currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of two privately held companies, Happy AI and Tenvie Therapeutics. Additionally, Mr. Berns is a member of the Board of Directors of Mirador Therapeutics, Areteia Therapeutics, Metsera Therapeutics, EnCarda, Epirium, Ollin Biosciences and Unity Biotechnology (UBX).

Mr. Berns was the founder and served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Neumora Therapeutics from 2020 to 2023. From 2014 to 2016, Mr. Berns served as President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors at Anacor Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company which was acquired by Pfizer in 2016. Previously Mr. Berns served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Allos Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company from 2006 to 2012, when it was acquired by Spectrum Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Berns was President and Chief Executive Officer of Bone Care International, a specialty pharmaceutical company from 2002 to 2005 when it was acquired by Genzyme Corporation.

Mr. Berns previously served on the Board of Directors of EQRX (2020 to 2023), Jazz Pharmaceuticals, PLC (2010 to 2021), MC2 Therapeutics (2017 to 2020), Menlo Therapeutics (2017 to 2020), Anacor Pharmaceutics (2012 to 2016), XenoPort (2005 to 2016), Allos Therapeutics (2006 to 2012), and Bone Care International (2002 to 2005).  Mr. Berns holds a B.S. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin.

Kristina Burow is a Managing Director of ARCH Venture Partners and is focused on the creation and development of biotechnology, pharmaceutical and health tech companies. She joined ARCH in 2002 as an Associate and has played a significant role in the growth of ARCH’s life sciences portfolio, including multiple public companies exceeding billion-dollar valuations. She is a co-founder and director of Neumora Therapeutics (NMRA), Orbital Therapeutics and is a director of many more, including Scholar Rock (SRRK), Boundless Bio (BOLD), Metsera, Inc., Mirador, Architect, Pretzel, Autobahn, ROME, Treeline, and Magnet Biomedicine. Ms. Burow holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, an M.A. in Chemistry from Columbia University and a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley.

Michele Cucullu is Managing Director of Private Investments at a single-family office located in Silicon Valley and oversees the family office’s private equity investments and the foundation’s CNS investment program. Michele has over two decades of investment experience and, prior to her current role, was Director of Private Equity at the University of California for more than a decade. Earlier, she was on the Investment Team at Caltech. 

Alaa Halawa is the Head of Healthcare and Executive Director at Mubadala Ventures, the San Francisco-based venture capital division of Mubadala Capital. He focuses on investing in venture and early growth-stage companies in biotechnology, healthcare technology, and healthcare services. Some of Alaa’s notable investments include Recursion (RXRX), Neumora Therapeutics (NMRA), Exscientia (EXAI), Vir Biotechnology (VIR), Altos Labs, Insitro, Innovaccer, Orca Bio, Unlearn, Paradigm, Alloy Therapeutics, Pretzel Therapeutics, Juvena Therapeutics and EpiBiologics.

Alaa serves on numerous boards, including Neumora Therapeutics, Innovaccer, Pretzel Therapeutics and Alloy Therapeutics. Alaa joined Mubadala in 2009, where he was part of the early team that built Global Foundries, one of the largest semi-conductor manufacturers. Over the course of a decade, he played a pivotal role in transforming Global Foundries into a publicly traded company valued at $30 billion. This journey led him to Silicon Valley in 2011. Subsequently, in 2016, he began building the groundwork for Mubadala Capital’s ventures business.

Alaa holds an MBA from Cornell University.

Joe Lewcock is the Chief Scientific Officer and Head of Discovery at Denali Therapeutics, a biotechnology company dedicated to developing innovative treatments for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS, and rare genetic disorders. In this role, he oversees Denali’s scientific strategy and preclinical portfolio, resulting the advancement of ten Denali originated molecules into clinical trials. These include both small molecules and biotherapeutics that utilize Denali’s proprietary Transport Vehicle (TV) platform to enable biologics to effectively cross the blood-brain barrier. Before joining Denali in early 2016, Joe spent nine years at Genentech, where he played a key role in shaping the company’s neuroscience disease area strategy and portfolio. He holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of California, San Diego, a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Salk Institute.

Stacie Weninger is the President of FBRI and a Venture Partner at F-Prime Capital Partners. Dr. Weninger received a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Harvard University, and a B.S. degree in chemistry with highest honors from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She is CEO and Chairman of the Board for Rugen Therapeutics; is a member of the Board of Directors for Aratome, Atalanta, Engrail, Tenvie, and Target ALS; is a member of the External Advisory Board for Boston Children’s Hospital’s Rosamund Stone Zander Translational Neuroscience Center; is a member of the Scientific Advisory Boards for the Breuer Foundation, Brown University’s Carney Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research, Denali Therapeutics, the Indian Institute of Science’s Centre for Brain Research, the MIT Yang-Tan Center for Molecular Therapeutics, and the UK Dementia Research Institute; and she chairs the Collaboration for Alzheimer’s Prevention. She served as the President of Alzforum for over a decade and continues as a special advisor to the site; served as a founding member of the Board of Directors for Denali Therapeutics; and she previously served on the Board of Directors for Neumora Therapeutics and Sironax.