Board of Directors

Douglas Falk, MS

Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder

Douglas Falk, MS, co-founded and joined Vita Therapeutics, Inc. as Chief Executive Officer in 2019. Prior he spent 6 years in the investment world with a particular focus in biotechnology at Brown Advisory, where he was a principal, Merrill Lynch, and Lazard. Mr. Falk was also involved in the formation of OptoStem and currently sits on the board of directors. In addition, Mr. Falk currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Johns Hopkins Biotechnology Investment Group. Mr. Falk received his M.S. from Johns Hopkins University in biotechnology and his BA from Goucher College in Economics and Business Management.

Vlad Coric, MD

Board Member

Vlad Coric, MD, is an invaluable member of Vita Therapeutics, Inc. board of directors and brings considerable experience and expertise in the biotech sphere. He currently serves as the CEO of Biohaven, Ltd. (NYSE: BHVN), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. Dr. Coric is an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine and has more than 50 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Coric previously served as chief of the Yale Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit, and director of the Yale Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Research Clinic. He has served as president of the Connecticut Psychiatric Society (an 800-member district branch of the American Psychiatric Association). Dr. Coric completed residency training at the Yale Psychiatry Residency Training Program, where he also served as the program-wide chief resident for the Yale Department of Psychiatry, and Chief Resident on the PTSD firm at the West-Haven Connecticut Veterans Administration Hospital. Dr. Coric earned his medical degree at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina.

David Churchill

Board Member

David Churchill is Partner, chief financial officer and chief operating officer at Brown Advisory. With a focus on building world-class teams and a strong organizational culture, Mr. Churchill’s leadership extends into the community, where he serves on several nonprofit boards. Serving in various financial and operations leadership roles throughout his career, he thrives in growing entrepreneurial enterprises. His experience in finance, management and operations comes together at Brown Advisory where he oversees all non-investment areas. Mr. Churchill joined Brown Advisory in 1997 and co-led the management buyout transaction of Brown Advisory from Bankers Trust.

Eva R. Chin, PhD

Board Member

Eva Chin, PhD, has a career that has spanned the academic and pharmaceutical industries, with previous positions at Pfizer, the University of Maryland, MyoTherapeutics, Cytokinetics and NMD Pharma. Her work has increasingly focused on targeting the underlying skeletal muscle pathologies in rare neuromuscular diseases, including DMD, ALS, SMA and myasthenia gravis. Dr. Chin has led or contributed to 10 programs moving from novel research idea to candidate nomination and into Phase 2/3 clinical trials, focusing on translational pharmacology and safety to support IND/CTA filings and Orphan Drug designation.  

She obtained her PhD in physiology from the University of Waterloo in Canada and completed post-doctoral training at the University of Sydney, Australia, and UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, focusing on the role of intracellular calcium in skeletal muscle fatigue, transcriptional regulation of gene expression and muscle plasticity. Dr. Chin has published more than 50 peer-reviewed articles and more than 100 conference abstracts and presentations focusing on skeletal muscle fatigue and disease mechanisms for metabolic disease, aging and neuromuscular diseases.

James Peyer, PhD

Board Member

James Peyer, PhD, is the chief executive officer and co-founder of Cambrian Biopharma. Dr. Peyer was previously founder and managing partner at Apollo Ventures, the first global longevity-focused venture capital firm, investing across the US and Europe. He led investments in Cleara Biotech, Aeovian Pharmaceuticals, and Samsara Therapeutics, and served on the board of directors and/or in executive roles for all three companies. Dr. Peyer has led companies that have raised over $100M. He serves on the board of Sensei Biotherapeutics, Vineyard Therapeutics, and several more stealth-mode companies. Prior to Apollo, Dr. Peyer was a consultant at the New York office of McKinsey & Company, serving major pharmaceutical clients. He earned his PhD in stem cell biology at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center as a National Science Foundation Fellow and received his BA with special honors from the University of Chicago.

Mark Nuttall, PhD

Board Member

Mark Nuttall, PhD, is the executive vice president of business development at Cambrian Biopharma. He was previously chief business officer for Kintai Therapeutics/Senda Biosciences, a Flagship Pioneering company, and Kymera Therapeutics (KYMR). Before moving to biotech, Dr. Nuttall held increasingly senior roles in business development functions at several large pharmaceutical companies. He was vice president and head of business development and licensing for core therapeutic franchises at Sanofi Genzyme: immunology, inflammation and multiple sclerosis; at Johnson & Johnson he led neuroscience business development and was responsible for leading a team that transformed the company's portfolio. Dr. Nuttall began his career in the healthcare industry in research and development at GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca. He has a BSc in biochemistry from the University College of Wales in Cardiff, and a PhD in molecular and cell biology from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland.

Join our team

Join us as we re-engineer cellular medicine.