Our Team

Our studio was forged in 2021 by – Max, Michel, and Sriram – united by their shared goal to re-establish discovery as the basis for the next generation of immunotherapies.

With their deep knowledge of immunobiology and their impressive track record of discovering and developing multiple, multibillion-dollar immunotherapies, they have positioned Foundery to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the pre-clinical R&D process.

They aim to preserve the innovative culture of biotech and bridge the translational gap by providing leading academic scientists with exclusive access to best-in-class technology platforms and the necessary R&D infrastructure to transform their discoveries into breakthrough therapies.

Executive Management Team

A proven record of selecting and developing commercially successful therapies

Max Krummel, PhD

Founder & Managing Member
  • UCSF Professor & Endowed Chair in Experimental Pathology
  • Discovered and patented Checkpoint Blockade Target CTLA-4 (2022 Yervoy® Sales: $2B)
  • Defined Myeloid Tuning & founded Pionyr (secured $1.7B Buyout Option from Gilead in 2020)
  • Discovered Immune Archetypes in Cancer & COVID
  • PhD, University California, Berkeley
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Michel Streuli, PhD

Founder, Managing Member, & Chief Executive Officer
  • Drove early development of multiple immunotherapies, including IntronA and Keytruda® (2022 Keytruda® Sales: $21B)
  • 20+ year biotech veteran
  • Former Professor at Harvard and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
  • PhD, University of Zurich
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Venkataraman “Sriram”, PhD

Founder, Managing Member, & Chief Scientific Officer
  • Guided preclinical pharmacology for Keytruda® and led Pionyr’s non-clinical PY314 program
  • 15+ years experience in immuno-oncology R&D and strategy development at Schering-Plough, Merck, Gilead and Pionyr
  • Expertise in small molecule and biologics development for immuno-oncology
  • PhD, University of Madras
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Jate Sam, MBA, CLP

Chief Business Officer
  • Executed >$10B in M&A, financing, licensing transactions and ~$70M in PE/VC investments
  • 20 years of investment banking, corporate development, principal investing and general management experience in the biopharma and consumer sectors
  • MBA, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
  • Certified Licensing Professional
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Operating Team and Studio

Team’s deep experience enables translation of academic discoveries into high-value preclinical therapies

Elizabeth Edmiston, PhD

Senior Director, Business Operations & Investor Relations
  • 7 Years Academic and Industry Experience
  • Prior Position: Senior Alliance and Business Development Manager, UCSF
  • PhD, Immunology, University of California, Davis
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Joshua Pollack, MS

Senior Director, Bioinformatics
  • 14 Years Academic and Industry Experience
  • Prior Position: Associate Director, Bioinformatics & Trans. Biology, Pionyr
  • MS, Computational Biology and Genomics, University of California, Berkeley
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Vladi Juric, PhD

Senior Director of Biology and Pharmacology
  • 13 Years Academic and Industry Experience
  • Prior Position: Director, Early Discovery Biology, Pionyr
  • PhD, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Illinois, Chicago
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Map of the Foundery headquarters near the UCSF campus

Foundery Headquarters

  • Our 350 Parnassus location provides unprecedented physical proximity to cutting-edge immunologists
  • 13,600 square feet of laboratory and office space
  • Designed to accommodate a 1-2 NewCos

Scientific Advisors

A complementary amalgam of cutting-edge scientists with expertise in basic, clinical, and applied immunology

Adil Daud, MD

Director of Melanoma Clinical Research, HDFCCC, UC San Francisco
Immunotherapy KOL
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Ananda Goldrath, PhD

Executive Vice President, Allen Institute for Immunology
Immune Memory KOL
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Dan Littman, MD, PhD

Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Professor of Molecular Immunology, NYU School of Medicine
Integrated Immune KOL
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Richard Locksley, MD

Marion and Herbert Sandler Distinguished Professor, UC San Francisco
Innate Lymphocyte Biology KOL
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Alexis Combes, PhD

Associate Professor, Pathology, UC San Francisco
Immune Archetype KOL
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Leonard G. Presta, PhD

Retired Biotech Veteran
Renowned Antibody & Protein Engineer
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Business Advisors

Seasoned executives with significant venture, operating, M&A and business development experience

Pete Briger, MBA

Executive Chairman, Fortress Investment Group
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Jeff Brody, MBA

Managing Member Emeritus & Co-Founder, Redpoint Ventures
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Rekha Hemrajani, MBA

Board Member, ALX Oncology | Bioage | MaxCyte
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Forrest Metz, PhD, M. Phil

Founder and Managing Director, Dev Equity
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Saira Ramasastry, MS, M. Phil

Founder and Managing Partner, Life Sciences Advisory
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Wendy Petka, PhD, JD

Vice President, IP, Horizon Therapeutics
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Interested in learning more? We're looking forward to hearing from you.

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