A global professional network empowering the Lebanese biosciences community
A significant number of individuals of Lebanese heritage work in or for the biosciences industry around the world. Many have achieved key positions and identified an opportunity for a global platform to harness the strength of this growing community, and contribute to the success of the biosciences ecosystem.
Dr. François Nader and Khalil Barrage took the initiative to found Biosciences Lebanese International Network (Biolink.org), and incorporated it in 2022 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit in New York.
Francois Nader, MD, MBA
Chairman
GEn1E Lifesciences
Francois Nader, MD, MBA
Founding Board Member
Francois is chairman of GEn1E Lifesciences, a board director of Moderna and Ring Therapeutics, and a senior advisor to Blackstone Life Sciences.
Previously, Francois was Chief Executive Officer of NPS Pharma. During his tenure, he transformed NPS Pharma into a leading global biotechnology company focused on delivering innovative therapies to patients with rare diseases. Before NPS, Francois was a venture partner at Care Capital. He also served on the North America Leadership Team of Aventis and its predecessor companies, holding several executive positions including senior vice president, integrated healthcare markets and North America medical and regulatory affairs. He led the global commercial operations at the Pasteur Vaccins’ division of Rhone-Poulenc.
Francois serves on the board of the Lebanese American University, the American Task Force for Lebanon, and as an advisor to LIFE Lebanon. He is the recipient of the Lebanese National Order of Merit, the Ernst and Young National Life Science Entrepreneur of the Year® award, and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
Francois earned his French Doctorate in Medicine from St. Joseph University in Lebanon and his Physician Executive MBA from the University of Tennessee.
Khalil Barrage
Managing Director
The Invus Group
Khalil Barrage
Founding Board Member
Khalil is a Managing Director at Invus, a New York-based global investment firm.
He joined Invus in 2003 and established the Public Equity Group, which he helms globally. Invus Public Equity focuses its investments on emerging innovative biotech companies. In addition to managing the Public Equity team, Khalil co-manages private biotech investments. He is a member of the board of ElevateBio, Sensorion, Onxeo, Protagenic Therapeutics, and Orthobond.
Prior to joining Invus, he worked at The Olayan Group in New York, where he ran their U.S. equity portfolio for 15 years.
As part of his philanthropic engagements, Khalil serves on the Board of the Children of Armenia Fund, LIFE Lebanon, and Solving Kids’ Cancer.
He holds a BA in Economics from the American University of Beirut.
Francois Nader
Chairman
GEn1E Lifesciences
Francois Nader, MD, MBA
Founding Board Member
Francois is chairman of GEn1E Lifesciences, a board director of Moderna and Ring Therapeutics, and a senior advisor to Blackstone Life Sciences.
Previously, Francois was Chief Executive Officer of NPS Pharma. During his tenure, he transformed NPS Pharma into a leading global biotechnology company focused on delivering innovative therapies to patients with rare diseases. Before NPS, Francois was a venture partner at Care Capital. He also served on the North America Leadership Team of Aventis and its predecessor companies, holding several executive positions including senior vice president, integrated healthcare markets and North America medical and regulatory affairs. He led the global commercial operations at the Pasteur Vaccins’ division of Rhone-Poulenc.
Francois serves on the board of the Lebanese American University, the American Task Force for Lebanon, and as an advisor to LIFE Lebanon. He is the recipient of the Lebanese National Order of Merit, the Ernst and Young National Life Science Entrepreneur of the Year® award, and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
Francois earned his French Doctorate in Medicine from St. Joseph University in Lebanon and his Physician Executive MBA from the University of Tennessee.
Khalil Barrage
Managing Director
The Invus Group
Khalil Barrage
Founding Board Member
Khalil is a Managing Director at Invus, a New York-based global investment firm.
He joined Invus in 2003 and established the Public Equity Group, which he helms globally. Invus Public Equity focuses its investments on emerging innovative biotech companies. In addition to managing the Public Equity team, Khalil co-manages private biotech investments. He is a member of the board of ElevateBio, Sensorion, Onxeo, Protagenic Therapeutics, and Orthobond.
Prior to joining Invus, he worked at The Olayan Group in New York, where he ran their U.S. equity portfolio for 15 years.
As part of his philanthropic engagements, Khalil serves on the Board of the Children of Armenia Fund, LIFE Lebanon, and Solving Kids’ Cancer.
He holds a BA in Economics from the American University of Beirut.
Habib Dable
Former President & CEO
Acceleron Pharma
Habib Dable
Founding Board Member
Habib is the former President & CEO of Acceleron Pharma, a company targeting leading-edge therapies for patients with serious and rare diseases, sold to Merck for $11.5B in 2021.
He currently serves as an Independent Board Director at Day One Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: DAWN), Blueprint Medicines (NASDAQ: BPMC), Aerovate Therapeutics (NASDAQ: AVTE), and PepGen Inc. (NASDAQ: PEPG). He is also a part-time Venture Partner at RA Capital Management.
Prior to joining Acceleron in 2016, Habib was President of U.S. Pharmaceuticals at Bayer AG., where he held positions of increasing responsibility during his 22-year tenure.
Habib was recognized by Institutional Investor for three consecutive years (2019, 2020, 2021) as a top ranked mid-cap biotech CEO.
He was a board member of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO).
Habib received a B.B.A. and M.B.A. from the University of New Brunswick in Canada.
Maha Katabi
General Partner
Sofinnova Investments
Maha Katabi
Founding Board Member
Maha is a General Partner of Sofinnova Investments. She is an experienced investor with over two decades of managing public and private biotech companies through bull and bear markets. She is currently a board member of Aerovate (AVTE), Quanta, Star, and Vera (VERA). Most recently Maha was a board member of Aiolos (acquired by GSK) and RayzeBio (RYZB: acquired by BMS), in addition to Amplyx (acquired by Pfizer), Gyroscope (acquired by Novartis) and Northsea.
Prior to joining Sofinnova in 2019, Maha was a Partner at Sectoral Asset Management. There, she formed and led a dedicated team to manage investments in private companies and was a Portfolio Manager for a family of funds investing in small cap healthcare companies. Maha co-invested with Sofinnova in multiple companies: Apellis Pharmaceuticals (APLS), Ascendis Pharma (ASND), and Trius Therapeutics (TSRX-acquired by Cubist).
Earlier in her career, she worked as an associate and principal investing in seed and early stage biotech at T 2 C 2 /Bio and Ventures West.
Fierce Pharma named Maha one of 2023’s Fiercest Women in Life Sciences. Maha serves as an advisor to amplifyHERscience, a Yale Ventures initiative. She is Board Chair of Exactis Innovation, a not for profit research network for precision oncology operating a data analytics platform to provide real world evidence data to clinical researchers and payors.
Maha received a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and a B.Sc. in Biology at McGill University and was awarded a Cancer Research Society scholarship. She is a CFA charterholder.
Mona G. Flores
Global Head Of Medical AI
NVIDIA
Mona G. Flores
Dr. Mona G. Flores is the global head of medical AI at NVIDIA, where she oversees NVIDIA’s AI initiatives in medicine and healthcare to bridge the chasm between technology and medicine. Dr. Flores first joined NVIDIA in 2018 with a focus on developing the healthcare ecosystem. Before joining NVIDIA, she served as the chief medical officer of digital health company Human Resolution Technologies after a 25 + year career in medicine and cardiothoracic surgery. She received her medical degree from Oregon Health and Science University followed by a general surgery residency at the University of California at San Diego, a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Stanford, and a cardiothoracic surgery residency and fellowship at Columbia University in New York.
Said Francis
Chief Business Officer
Moderna
Said Francis
Said Francis is Chief Business Officer of Moderna and General Manager of Individualized Neoantigen Therapy (INT) franchise, Inc. He is responsible for development of and execution on the company’s partnering strategy as well as the corporate strategic initiatives. He joined Moderna in 2013 as a Director of Corporate Development focused on establishing an ecosystem around Moderna’s mRNA platform and expanding the company’s technology portfolio by leading collaborations, licensing transactions, and acquisitions.
Prior to joining Moderna, Mr. Francis was a Senior Manager of mergers and acquisitions at Novartis, based in Basel Switzerland, where he drove the successful execution of multiple transactions for various business units. He started his career at J.P. Morgan Healthcare Investment Banking group in New York, where he advised pharma and medical device companies on corporate transactions.
He has deep experience in corporate strategy, growth strategy, business development and corporate governance, and has worked extensively with executive leadership teams both in public and private companies.
Mr. Francis holds an S.B. and M.Eng. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and an MBA from Harvard Business School (HBS).
Bernard Tannoury
Chairman & CEO
Benta Group
Bernard Tannoury
Bernard Tannoury is the chairman and CEO of Benta Group, a leader in the pharmaceutical industry committed to manufacturing and distributing high-quality pharmaceutical products, as well as medical devices, in Lebanon and the Middle East. Benta recently acquired Famar Lyon in France, as part of its strategic plan of global expansion. The Famar factory produces dozens of therapeutic drugs, including for cardiovascular, diabetes, and neuroleptic diseases, for global companies, such as Merck, Sanofi, Abbott, Mylan, Astellas, Pfizer, and P&G, among others.
Charles Boorady
Managing Partner
Health Catalyst Capital
Charles Boorady
Charles Boorady is the Managing Partner of Health Catalyst Capital Management, LLC (HCC), a New York-based firm investing in transformative healthcare companies applying artificial intelligence, (AI), and other information technology to healthcare end-markets that improve the human condition and improve value. The HCC team includes a deep bench of C-level executives from large healthcare organizations who support thematic development, sourcing innovative new businesses, and create high sustainable value.
Charles has been involved in healthcare investments since 1994, initially with bulge bracket Wall St. firms as an investment research analyst and investment banker. Prior to 1994 he was a consultant with Accenture, leading business process automation and reengineering engagements. He has evaluated, advised, invested in, and served as Chairman or Director in numerous healthcare companies focused on healthcare and healthcare information technology, ranging from start-up through IPO. He also underwrote significant IPOs including while at Goldman Sachs as the sole lead bookrunner analyst on the landmark Anthem demutualization and IPO in October 2001. He also led healthcare investment research teams at Citi and Credit Suisse. As a healthcare analyst he ranked #1 for coverage of Health Care Providers and Services by Forbes magazine which named him among the “Dazzling Dozen” for investment research. He also ranked #1 by Institutional Investor magazine for coverage of Managed Care, for which he maintained a top 3 ranking in the country for over a decade.
Mr. Boorady has an MBA in Analytic Finance and Statistics from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BS in Engineering from Cornell University.
Hana El-Samad
Senior Vice President and Director
of the Institute of Computation at
Altos Labs
Hana El-Samad
Dr. Hana El-Samad is Senior Vice President and Director of the Institute of Computation at Altos Labs, where she is also Founding Principal Investigator at the Altos Labs Bay Area Institute of Science.
Prior to joining Altos Labs, Hana was the Kuo Family Endowed Professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics and deputy-director of the Cell Design Institute at UCSF. She is a control and dynamical systems theorist whose work generated fundamental insights into the principles of precise and robust cellular responses through the use of feedback control. Her recent work pioneered real-time measurement of feedback in living cells, synthetic feedback technologies to program cellular function, and theoretical frameworks to quantify biological homeostasis.
Hana is the recipient of many honors and awards including a 2011 Donald P. Eckman Award, 2013 Paul G. Allen Distinguished Investigator, 2017 senior investigator of the Chan-Zuckerberg Biohub and 2020 Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.
Tarek Rabah
President & CEO of Otsuka’s North
America Pharmaceutical Business
Tarek Rabah
Tarek is the President & CEO of Otsuka’s North America Pharmaceutical Business. Driven by a personal passion to improve lives, he leads Otsuka’s efforts to develop and commercialize innovative products and solutions that address unmet medical needs and untapped market opportunities.
Tarek is a growth-oriented executive with over 25 years of experience leading large, multifaceted organizations. He has successfully launched brands and led divisions at companies such as AstraZeneca and Novartis across the United States, Europe, South America, Japan, and the Middle East. His expertise spans therapeutic areas within highly competitive and complex healthcare categories. Tarek believes that leadership is not about having all the answers, but about creating an environment where teams are deeply connected to their purpose and the people they serve.
He serves on the board of the Otsuka’s philanthropic Sozosei Foundation. He is also a member of the advisory board of the Centre of Humanitarian Health at Johns Hopkins University.
Tarek holds a BS in Biology, a BBA in Business from the American University of Beirut, and an MBA from McGill University. He is fluent in five languages.
Khalil Barrage
Vice Chairman
Khalil Barrage
Founding Board Member
Khalil is a Managing Director at Invus, a New York-based global investment firm.
He joined Invus in 2003 and established the Public Equity Group, which he helms globally. Invus Public Equity focuses its investments on emerging innovative biotech companies. In addition to managing the Public Equity team, Khalil co-manages private biotech investments. He is a member of the board of ElevateBio, Sensorion, Onxeo, Protagenic Therapeutics, and Orthobond.
Prior to joining Invus, he worked at The Olayan Group in New York, where he ran their U.S. equity portfolio for 15 years.
As part of his philanthropic engagements, Khalil serves on the Board of the Children of Armenia Fund, LIFE Lebanon, and Solving Kids’ Cancer.
He holds a BA in Economics from the American University of Beirut.
Zina Moukheiber
Executive Director
Zina Moukheiber
Zina led communications at Silicon Valley-based 500 Global, one of the most active venture capital firms in the world, where she built the communications function from the ground up. Prior to 500 Global, Zina was a journalist at Forbes. She initiated regular coverage of the biotech industry, penning cover stories on medical breakthroughs. Her blog, which chronicled the evolution of the health tech sector, attracted 2.5 million visitors. She was also the Editor of the Middle East edition of Forbes.
Zina is a co-founder of Social and Economic Action for Lebanon (SEAL). She holds a Master’s in international relations from New York University.
Francois Nader
Chairman
Francois Nader, MD, MBA
Founding Board Member
Francois is chairman of GEn1E Lifesciences, a board director of Moderna and Ring Therapeutics, and a senior advisor to Blackstone Life Sciences.
Previously, Francois was Chief Executive Officer of NPS Pharma. During his tenure, he transformed NPS Pharma into a leading global biotechnology company focused on delivering innovative therapies to patients with rare diseases. Before NPS, Francois was a venture partner at Care Capital. He also served on the North America Leadership Team of Aventis and its predecessor companies, holding several executive positions including senior vice president, integrated healthcare markets and North America medical and regulatory affairs. He led the global commercial operations at the Pasteur Vaccins’ division of Rhone-Poulenc.
Francois serves on the board of the Lebanese American University, the American Task Force for Lebanon, and as an advisor to LIFE Lebanon. He is the recipient of the Lebanese National Order of Merit, the Ernst and Young National Life Science Entrepreneur of the Year® award, and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
Francois earned his French Doctorate in Medicine from St. Joseph University in Lebanon and his Physician Executive MBA from the University of Tennessee.