Emile Nuwaysir, PhD, brings broad life science leadership experience to the Invenra Board. He currently serves as president, chief executive officer and member of the board of directors of Ensoma, an in vivo genetic medicines company. He is also the chairman of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, an international advocacy organization comprised of 420+ member companies dedicated to the advancement of cell and gene medicines. Previously he was CEO of BlueRock Therapeutics, an independently operated subsidiary of Bayer Pharmaceuticals, where he continues to serve as chairman of the company’s board of directors. As the CEO of BlueRock from inception, Emile helped build a platform company at the intersection of cellular and genetic medicine, develop a pipeline of first-in-class therapeutic programs, and manage the company’s acquisition and operation with Bayer. Prior to BlueRock, he served as president and chief operating officer of Cellular Dynamics International (CDI), A Fujifilm Company. He played a leading role in growing CDI and its stem cell therapy efforts from its inception, including its early efforts as a pre-revenue startup, to its successful IPO on Nasdaq and ultimate acquisition by Fujifilm. He was also president of Opsis Therapeutics Inc., CDI’s retinal cell therapy subsidiary. Before CDI, Emile was the second employee of NimbleGen Systems, serving as a member of the senior management team that built a successful company and orchestrated a dual-track IPO process leading to the company’s acquisition by Roche Diagnostics. After the acquisition of NimbleGen, Emile served as chief technical officer of the Roche NimbleGen subsidiary.
Emile has held postdoctoral fellowships at the National Institutes of Health and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He holds a B.A. from the University of Delaware and a Ph.D. in molecular toxicology with a focus on oncology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
