Tim Shannon

Tim Shannon has extensive biopharmaceutical operational experience leading product and business development for more than 15 years, and he was a practicing physician in pulmonary and critical care medicine. Tim joined Canaan in 2009 and brings strategic business sense as well as a hands-on medical and patient care perspective to Canaan's investments in biopharmaceuticals.

Tim was previously president and chief executive officer of CuraGen, a biopharmaceutical company focused on oncology. At CuraGen, he previously served as executive vice president of R&D and chief medical officer. Prior to CuraGen, he held positions of increasing responsibility for Bayer's Pharmaceutical Business Group including senior vice president of global medical development. He is a director at Celldex Therapeutics, which acquired CuraGen in October 2009, and is a member of the Quality Assurance, Compliance and Safety Committee for The Yale Cancer Center.

In addition to his operational experience, he was assistant professor of the pulmonary and critical care division at Yale University School of Medicine and an attending physician in pulmonary and critical care medicine at the West Haven V.A. Medical Center. Tim received his post graduate medical training at the Beth Israel Hospital of Harvard Medical School and at Boston University, earned his medical degree from the University of Connecticut, and has a B.A. in chemistry from Amherst College.

Wende Hutton

Seasoned healthcare investor Wende Hutton is passionate about identifying, investing in and building companies that are revolutionizing the practice of medicine. She joined Canaan in 2004, bringing diverse expertise from across the entire medical spectrum. Over the last 18 years, Wende has facilitated the market entrance of over 11 novel and lifesaving medical devices, new drugs and diagnostics. Her track record is a testament to her leadership and includes the initial public offerings of five companies, of which two were later acquired, and the acquisition of four more by medical companies including the recent acquisition of BiPar Sciences, a leader in the development of a potential new class of tumor-selective drugs designed to meet the unmet needs of cancer patients.

Wende began her venture career at Mayfield Fund in 1993, where she was a General Partner in the life sciences group until 2001. During her tenure at Mayfield, Wende incubated Heartstream Inc. (HPQ) and Northstar Neuroscience Inc. (NSTR), working closely with those founding teams. Most recently, she was a General Partner at Spring Ridge Ventures, a healthcare-focused seed fund. Earlier in her career, Wende held senior operational management positions at GenPharm International and Nellcor in business development and marketing.

Wende sits on the boards of Aldea Pharmaceuticals, Chimerix, Inc., Dermira, Inc., ReVision Optics, Inc., Theraclone Sciences and Transcend Medical, Inc. Her previous board seats include Alsius (ALUS) , Apieron, Inc. (acquired by Aerocrine), BiPar Sciences (acquired by Sanofi), Calibra Medical (acquired by Johnson & Johnson/LifeScan), Heartstream, Inc. (acquired by Hewlett Packard), Micro Therapeutics, Inc. (acquired by ev3, Inc.), Northstar Neuroscience (NSTR), Orquest, Inc. (acquired by Johnson & Johnson), and SenoRx, Inc. (acquired by C. R. Bard).

Wende holds an AB in human biology from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School, where she was a Baker Scholar. She is active with several community service groups, including serving on the board of FACE AIDS and in leadership roles with the National Charity League Stanford chapter.

Howard B. Rosen

Howard B. Rosen is currently a consultant to several companies in the industry and a lecturer in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Stanford University. He previously served as Vice President, Commercial Strategy, at Gilead Sciences, Inc., where he was responsible for strategic marketing, global brand management, health economics, competitive intelligence, market research and Gilead's overall portfolio and business planning.

Prior to Gilead, Mr. Rosen spent more than 10 years in various roles at ALZA Corporation, an operating company within the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies, most recently as President of the ALZA division of Johnson & Johnson. During his tenure at ALZA, he was responsible for product development activities, portfolio management, corporate and new product planning, mergers and acquisitions, R&D planning and technology ventures.

Prior to ALZA, Mr. Rosen managed the west coast practice of Integral, Inc., served as Director of Corporate Development at GenPharm International, Inc., and was a consultant in the San Francisco office of McKinsey & Co. Mr. Rosen also serves on the Boards of Directors of AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Alcobra, Ltd., Entrega, Inc., and PaxVax, Inc.

Mr. Rosen holds an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, an M.S. in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a B.S. in chemical engineering from Stanford University. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

John Walker

John has more than 40 years of experience in the Life Sciences Industry, with an extensive background in senior operating, management and Board roles. He has served as the Executive Chairman, Chairman or CEO of 17 different biotech and medical device companies. Among these are Arris/ Axys Pharmaceuticals, Kai Pharmaceuticals, Signal Pharmaceuticals, Microcide, Renovis, Vitaphore Corporation and Centaur Pharmaceuticals. He has served as an advisor and consultant to Morgan Stanley Ventures, MDS Capital and Apax Partners assisting in the management of their respective Life Science portfolios, and was the Chairman of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine and member of the Board of Directors of the Biotechnology Industry Organization.

He began his career at American Hospital Supply Corporation and currently serves as the Chairman and Interim CEO of Neuraltus, and is on the Board of Directors of Affymax, Ceregene and Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University. Mr. Walker is a graduate of the Advanced Executive Program at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and holds a B.A. from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

William E. Yelle, Chief Executive Officer

Bill Yelle has 25 years of experience in the life sciences industry, including positions in corporate and business development, strategic planning, portfolio management, commercial operations and R&D.

Bill was previously Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Licensing for Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc (formerly Sepracor Inc). In this role, he was responsible for overseeing all business development initiatives, as well as the alliance management function. Bill joined Sepracor in 1995 and was instrumental in the company’s transition from an early clinical stage organization into a fully-integrated pharmaceutical company, with involvement in key strategic and product development activities. This included the sale of Sepracor to Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma for $2.6 billion in 2009.

Prior to joining Sepracor in 1995, Bill held positions of increasing responsibility in Pfizer’s U.S. Pharmaceuticals group, including business development, new product planning, and organized customer marketing. He formerly worked in immunodiagnostic assay development at PB Diagnostics.

Bill received an MBA from Columbia University's Graduate School of Business Administration, a Masters of Science in Organic Chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley and a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.

Dr. Evgeny Zaytsev

Managing Partner, RMI Partners

Dr. Evgeny Zaytsev is a venture capitalist with more than twelve years’ investment experience in life sciences. Before joining RMI Partners (the management company for RusnanoMedInvest) he was a general partner at Helix Ventures (Palo Alto, California), which he co-founded to exclusively invest in novel therapeutic opportunities (biopharmaceuticals and medical devices). Prior to Helix Dr. Zaytsev was a partner of the venture capital pioneer Pitch Johnson at Asset Management Company, one of the oldest venture firms in Silicon Valley.

Dr. Zaytsev has been involved in more than 30 investments in biomedical companies, including such success stories of venture capital as BiPar Sciences (acquired by sanofi-aventis), Chimerix (NADSDAQ: CMRX), Enteric Medical Technologies (acquired by Boston Scientific), Fusion Medical Technologies (acquired by Baxter International), MicroVention (acquired by Terumo Corporation), TriVascular (acquired by Boston Scientific).  He has been a Board Member of a number of companies in Silicon Valley and Russia.

Evgeny Zaytsev has been Chief Scientific Officer of Institute of Medico-Ecological Problems in Barnaul, Siberia, Russia, responsible for studying the health and environmental effects of the former Soviet Union's nuclear tests. Under his leadership the Institute developed into an internationally recognized research center. Dr. Zaytsev is an active business community leader, a founder and the first president of US-Russia Technology Symposium at Stanford University (now Global Technology Symposium), and the annual Silicon Valley Open Doors investment conference. Dr. Zaytsev is an author of more than 70 scientific and business publications on entrepreneurship, venture capital and biotechnology.

Evgeny Zaytsev received his M.D. (cum laude) in 1991 and his Ph.D. in physiology in 1993, both from the Altai State Medical University.  He earned his M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2002.