Our Team

Jeffrey Walsh

Chief Executive Officer

Jeffrey Walsh serves as Chief Executive Officer of nChroma Bio, bringing over 30 years of leadership experience in both public and private life sciences companies. He joined nChroma in December 2024, following his tenure as CEO of Nvelop Therapeutics, where he led the company through its merger with Chroma Medicine.

Prior to Nvelop, Jeff was a Venture Partner at Third Rock Ventures, focusing on next-generation gene and cell therapy opportunities. From 2011 to 2020, he held key executive roles at bluebird bio, including Chief Financial and Strategy Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Earlier in his career, he served as Chief Business and Financial Officer at Taligen Therapeutics, where he played a pivotal role in the company’s acquisition by Alexion Pharmaceuticals. He also held business development and finance positions at Pathogenesis (acquired by Chiron), EXACT Sciences, Allscripts, and SmithKline Beecham.

Jeff currently serves on the Board of Directors at Tenaya Therapeutics and Tevard Biosciences and is an Executive Teaching Fellow at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. He holds a BA from Yale University and an MBA. from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Melissa Bonner, PhD

Chief Scientific Officer 

Dr. Melissa Bonner serves as Chief Scientific Officer of nChroma Bio, bringing extensive expertise in gene therapy and hematopoietic stem cell biology. She joined nChroma in December 2024 following her role as Chief Scientific Officer of Nvelop Therapeutics, where she led scientific strategy through its merger with Chroma Medicine.

Prior to Nvelop, Melissa held multiple scientific leadership positions at bluebird bio, where she played a key role in advancing gene therapy programs. As Head of Research, she led a team whose efforts were instrumental in securing FDA approvals for Zynteglo, Skysona, and Lyfgenia.

Melissa completed her postdoctoral training in Experimental Hematology at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where she focused on hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) lentiviral vector (LVV) gene therapy, HSC expansion technologies, and scalable LVV producer cell lines for manufacturing.

Dr. Bonner earned her PhD in Molecular Biology and Genetics from the University of Delaware and holds a BS in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Maryland Baltimore County.

Padma Malyala

Chief Technology Officer

Padma Malyala serves as Chief Technology Officer at nChroma Bio, bringing over 20 years of expertise in drug development, formulation, and analytical sciences. She joined nChroma following her role as Senior Vice President of Technical Development at Chroma Medicine, where she led technical strategy through its merger with Nvelop Therapeutics.

Padma has deep expertise in gene editing technologies, particularly in developing and optimizing delivery systems for precision genetic medicines. Prior to Chroma Medicine, she was Vice President of Formulation and Analytical Development at Verve Therapeutics, where she led drug product development for GalNAc-LNPs in gene editing applications. Earlier in her career, she held leadership roles at Novartis, MedImmune (AstraZeneca), and GSK, contributing to the development and advancement of vaccines, biologics, and gene therapies from early-stage research through clinical trials.

An inventor on multiple patents, Padma has contributed to innovations in RNA and gene editing technologies, iLipids for LNPs, vaccine adjuvants, and novel delivery systems.

Padma holds a BS in Pharmaceutical Sciences and an MS in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from Andhra University in India.

Jenny Marlowe, PhD

Chief Development Officer

Dr. Jenny Marlowe serves as Chief Development Officer of nChroma Bio, bringing extensive expertise in research and development, gene therapy, and translational sciences. She joined nChroma in December 2024, following her role as Chief Development Officer at Chroma Medicine, where she led development efforts through its merger with Nvelop Therapeutics.

Prior to Chroma Medicine, Jenny was Chief Scientific Officer at Solid Biosciences, overseeing R&D efforts for gene therapy programs targeting neuromuscular and genetic cardiomyopathy indications. She also served as Chief Scientific Officer of AavantiBio, where she led scientific strategy until the company’s acquisition by Solid Biosciences.

Earlier in her career, Jenny held multiple scientific leadership roles at bluebird bio, including Vice President, Beta-Thalassemia Program Lead, and Head of Preclinical and Translational Development. She began her career at Novartis, where she served as both Director and Laboratory Head in Discovery & Investigative Toxicology, as well as a Nonclinical Safety Project Team Member in Preclinical Safety.

Dr. Marlowe earned her PhD in Molecular Toxicology from the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Cincinnati, with a focus on cellular and molecular mechanisms of carcinogenesis. She holds a BS in Zoology from Miami University and is a long-standing Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology.

Archie Mathura, CPA 

Senior Vice President, Finance & Operations

Archie Mathura serves as President, Finance & Operations at nChroma Bio, bringing extensive financial leadership experience across the life sciences industry. She joined nChroma in December 2024, following her role as Vice President, Finance & Operations at Nvelop Therapeutics, where she guided the company through its merger with Chroma Medicine.

With a career spanning early-stage biotech to commercial organizations, Archie has played a key role in driving financial strategy, operational efficiency, and successful fundraising efforts. Prior to Nvelop, she held senior financial management roles at Seeker Biologics and Greenlight Biosciences, where she supported multiple rounds of financing, including a reverse merger into a public company. Earlier in her career, she held finance and accounting leadership positions at Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, and FCCI Insurance Group.

Archie began her career as an auditor at Ernst & Young and is a Certified Public Accountant. She holds a Master’s in Accountancy from the University of South Florida.

Lisa McGrath

Chief People Officer

Lisa McGrath serves as Chief People Officer at nChroma Bio, bringing over 20 years of experience driving impactful people and culture initiatives including professional development, performance management, and employee initiatives for publicly traded, VC, and angel-funded companies. She joined nChroma in December 2024, following her role as Chief People Officer at Nvelop Therapeutics, where she guided the company through its merger with Chroma Medicine.

Prior to Nvelop, Lisa spent six years as Chief People Officer at Surface Oncology, where she built a best-in-class People & Culture function. Before Surface, she also ran her own specialized human resources practice, advising biotech, pharmaceutical, medical device and molecular diagnostics companies, including Leap Therapeutics, Minerva Neurosciences, Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Good Start Genetics, Crestovo LLC, and Agenus Bio. Earlier in her career, she held senior HR leadership positions at Synta Pharmaceuticals, Intelligent Medical Devices, Predictive BioSciences, and BioSphere Medical.

Lisa holds a BA from Notre Dame College and has been HR certified (PHR, SPHR, SHRM-SCP) since 2003. She also earned a Leadership Coaching Certification from the Healthcare Coaching Institute in 2017.

Mansi Shinde, PhD

Senior Director, Head of Corporate Development

Dr. Mansi Shinde serves as Senior Director, Head of Corporate Development at nChroma Bio, leading business development, portfolio strategy, and scientific communications. She joined nChroma in December 2024, following her role as Senior Director of Corporate Development at Nvelop Therapeutics where she guided the company through its merger with Chroma Medicine.

Prior to Nvelop, Mansi led strategy and operations at Diagon Therapeutics, a 5AM Ventures NewCo focused on iPSC-derived cell therapies that she helped conceive. She was also an Operating Associate at 5AM Ventures where she focused on scientific diligence and company creation and strategy. Earlier in her career, Mansi consulted at Health Advances where she advised biotech and pharmaceutical companies on corporate and business development including pipeline and portfolio strategy, clinical development, and commercialization.

Dr. Shinde earned her PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Pennsylvania and holds a BA in Biology and Business from New York University.

Jeff Marrazzo (Chair)

Independent Board Member

Jeff founded and built Spark Therapeutics into the world’s first fully integrated, commercial gene therapy company, serving as co-founder and CEO from 2013 to 2022. Under Jeff’s leadership, Spark developed and launched LUXTURNA® for a rare blinding disorder, the first FDA-approved gene therapy for a genetic disease in the United States, spearheading the creation of novel reimbursement models to ensure patient access to genetic medicines. As CEO, Jeff shepherded multiple gene therapies into the clinic for patients with conditions ranging from inherited retinal diseases to rare bleeding and neuromuscular disorders.

While at Spark, Jeff raised over $1 billion and established major partnerships with Pfizer and Novartis. Jeff’s successful orchestration of Spark’s $4.8 billion sale to Roche in 2019 marked a 100-fold increase in the company’s market value over six years and delivered financial returns of $750 million to Spark’s non-traditional founding investor, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). At the time of his departure, Spark had grown to 850 employees and was named #5 in Science magazine’s rankings of top employers across the biopharmaceutical industry.

Jeff currently serves as a board member and strategic advisor to several biotechnology companies including Prime Medicine and Dispatch Bio, as well as on the boards of multiple non-profit organizations, including CHOP. In 2022, Jeff and his wife founded The Marrazzo Family Foundation with the goal of fostering creativity in Philadelphia youth.

Jeff holds two bachelor’s degrees in systems science and engineering and in economics from the University of Pennsylvania as well as two master’s degrees in business and public administration from Wharton and Harvard University, a dual-degree program which he founded.

Jess Alston, PhD

F-Prime Capital

Jessica is a Partner at F-Prime Capital and focuses primarily on the biopharmaceutical and medical technology sectors. Prior to joining F-Prime in 2015, Jessica was an engagement manager in McKinsey and Company’s Boston office, where she focused on pharmaceuticals and medical products and advised companies across a range of strategic, organizational, and operational topics. She began her career at MIT Lincoln Laboratory in the Biodefense Systems group, where she worked on developing novel techniques for the detection of biological agents.

Jessica holds a Ph.D. in genetics from Harvard University and received her BS in biology from Duke University.

Kevin Bitterman, PhD

Atlas Venture

As a Partner at Atlas Venture, Kevin focuses on creating and investing in companies that translate groundbreaking science into innovative medicines. Kevin serves on the boards of Disc Medicine (NASDAQ: IRON), Judo Bio, Kinaset Therapeutics, Remix Therapeutics, and Renasant Bio. He was the founding CEO of Editas Medicine (NASDAQ: EDIT), Morphic Therapeutic (acquired by Lilly) and Visterra (acquired by Otsuka). He previously served as a director of Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ: AKRO) and Mariana Oncology (acquired by Novartis), among other ventures. Prior to joining Atlas Venture in 2017, Kevin was a partner at Polaris Partners, where he had been a member of the healthcare team since 2004.

Kevin serves as a member of the Harvard Medical School Blavatnik Biomedical Accelerator and BTCA Steering Committees. He is also a member of the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum Board of Trustees. He received a BA in biology, with highest honors, from Rutgers University before completing his PhD in genetics at Harvard Medical School.

Thomas Cahill, MD, PhD

Newpath Partners

Tom is the Founder and Managing Partner of Newpath Partners, a Boston based life science venture fund focused on building therapeutic companies around transformational scientific discoveries. Newpath is a founding investor in most of their life science companies and focuses on uniquely aligning interests between academic scientists, investors and management teams. Dr. Cahill is directly involved as either a Director or Observer in the following companies: Myeloid Therapeutics, Prime Medicine, Kisbee Therapeutics, Kojin Therapeutics, Exo Therapeutics, and YourBio Health. In addition, he is a co-founder of Arena BioWorks, a private research institute located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he is a member of the Management Committee. He is also involved with non-profit efforts such as the Personal Genetics Education Project (pgEd).

Dr. Cahill received both his MD and PhD from Duke University. Dr. Cahill received both his M.D. and Ph.D. from Duke University.

Bihua Chen

Cormorant Asset Management

Bihua Chen is the founder of Cormorant Asset Management, LP (“Cormorant”), an investment firm focused on innovative biotech, medtech and life science companies with approximately $3b assets under management.  Ms. Chen manages Cormorant’s public fund as well as its private funds.  Prior to founding Cormorant, Ms. Chen managed a separately managed account focused on the healthcare sector as a sub-adviser to a large, multi-strategy hedge fund based in New York.

Ms. Chen obtained an MBA from the Wharton School of Business and a Master of Science, Molecular Biology, from the Graduate School of Biomedical Science at Cornell Medical College.  Ms. Chen also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Genetics and Genetic Engineering from Fudan University, Shanghai, China.

Michael A. Kelly

Sentry Hill Partners, LLC

Melissa J. Moore, PhD

Independent Board Member

Currently serving as a Board Director and Scientific Advisory Board member for multiple biotechnology companies, Dr. Moore previously held the role of Chief Scientific Officer, Platform Research, at Moderna, where she led the early-stage research teams developing the company’s platform technologies in mRNA design and delivery, including the COVID-19 vaccine. She co-founded the RNA Therapeutics Institute at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where she was a Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Pharmacology, Eleanor Eustis Farrington Chair in Cancer Research, and a long-time Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Dr. Moore is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and recipient of the RNA Society Lifetime Achievement Award. She holds a B.S. in Chemistry and Biology from the College of William and Mary, and a Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry from MIT.

Jeffrey Walsh

Chief Executive Officer

Jeffrey Walsh serves as Chief Executive Officer of nChroma Bio, bringing over 30 years of leadership experience in both public and private life sciences companies. He joined nChroma in December 2024, following his tenure as CEO of Nvelop Therapeutics, where he led the company through its merger with Chroma Medicine.

Prior to Nvelop, Jeff was a Venture Partner at Third Rock Ventures, focusing on next-generation gene and cell therapy opportunities. From 2011 to 2020, he held key executive roles at bluebird bio, including Chief Financial and Strategy Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Earlier in his career, he served as Chief Business and Financial Officer at Taligen Therapeutics, where he played a pivotal role in the company’s acquisition by Alexion Pharmaceuticals. He also held business development and finance positions at Pathogenesis (acquired by Chiron), EXACT Sciences, Allscripts, and SmithKline Beecham.

Jeff currently serves on the Board of Directors at Tenaya Therapeutics and Tevard Biosciences and is an Executive Teaching Fellow at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. He holds a BA from Yale University and an MBA. from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.