A collaboration to advance promising therapeutics that will address unsolved medical needs and find cures for disease

About Us

Boston Children’s Hospital, which has the largest National Institutes of Health-funded pediatric research enterprise in the United States, and Deerfield Management Company, a healthcare investment firm, have announced a major research collaboration to advance promising therapeutics that will address unsolved medical needs and find cures for disease. Named in honor of Boston Children’s distinguished late faculty member, Kenneth Blackfan, MD, an early leader in childhood blood disorders and pediatric diseases, Deerfield has created a new entity for this collaboration, Blackfan Circle Innovations.

Deerfield pledged up to $65 million, with the goal of translating more of the work of Boston Children’s biomedical researchers and accelerating innovation for potential commercial biopharmaceutical uses. Funding and operational support will be provided by Deerfield to help support jointly selected research initiatives with the objective of achieving Investigational New Drug (IND) readiness.

Deerfield is a healthcare investment management firm committed to advancing healthcare through investment, information and philanthropy. For more information, please visit www.deerfield.com.

Boston Children’s Hospital is ranked the #1 children’s hospital in the nation by U.S. News & World Report and is the primary pediatric teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Home to the world’s largest research enterprise based at a pediatric medical center, its discoveries have benefited both children and adults since 1869.

Today, 3,000 researchers and scientific staff, including 9 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 22 members of the National Academy of Medicine, and 12 Howard Hughes Medical Investigators comprise Boston Children’s research community. Founded as a 20-bed hospital for children, Boston Children’s is now a 415-bed comprehensive center for pediatric and adolescent health care.

For more, visit our Discoveries blog and follow us on social media @BostonChildrens, @BCH_Innovation, Facebook and YouTube.

 

Joint Steering Committee

Greg Baker

Greg Baker, Ph.D., is the Director of Business Development for the Technology & Innovation Development Office (TIDO) at Boston Children’s Hospital. Greg’s role at TIDO is to help commercialize technologies developed at Boston Children’s Hospital. Greg works with the licensing team and the faculty at all stages of the innovation life cycle, from conception to the transition to the marketplace. He draws Read More upon his experience in technology commercialization at academic institutions such as Children’s National in Washington D.C. and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, as well as business development roles at Novartis and Syngenta. His experience also includes supporting startup companies during their initial formation and with competing for early-stage funding, and he is also a registered patent agent. Greg’s business experience supplements his scientific training of an undergraduate degree in Microbiology from the University of California, San Diego, and a PhD in Molecular Genetics from Harvard Medical School. Greg joined BCH in February 2021, and he is excited to be part of the TIDO team.
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Greg Baker


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Greg Baker, Ph.D., is the Director of Business Development for the Technology & Innovation Development Office (TIDO) at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Greg’s role at TIDO is to help commercialize technologies developed at Boston Children’s Hospital. Greg works with the licensing team and the faculty at all stages of the innovation life cycle, from conception to the transition to the marketplace. He draws upon his experience in technology commercialization at academic institutions such as Children’s National in Washington D.C. and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, as well as business development roles at Novartis and Syngenta. His experience also includes supporting startup companies during their initial formation and with competing for early-stage funding, and he is also a registered patent agent.

Greg’s business experience supplements his scientific training of an undergraduate degree in Microbiology from the University of California, San Diego, and a PhD in Molecular Genetics from Harvard Medical School.

Greg joined BCH in February 2021, and he is excited to be part of the TIDO team.
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Leslie S. Kean

Leslie S. Kean, MD PhD, is a clinician-scientist with extensive laboratory and clinical expertise in transplantation and translational immunology. She is the Director of Pediatric Stem Cell Transplant at Boston Children’s Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and is the Stranahan Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. She is the Chair of the Pediatric Transplantation and Read More Cellular Therapy Consortium (PTCTC). Dr. Kean’s research program is focused on the immunology of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and immune tolerance in allo- and auto-immune diseases. The overarching goal of her research is to understand mechanisms underlying immune tolerance, with a specific focus on mixed-chimerism induction for solid organ transplantation, graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), transplant rejection, the immunology of GI auto-immune diseases, and the reconstitution of protective immunity after transplantation. Dr. Kean’s work has led to the creation of multiple novel, MHC-defined non-human primate models of both engraftment and GvHD and to several first-in-disease clinical trials.
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Leslie S. Kean


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Leslie S. Kean, MD PhD, is a clinician-scientist with extensive laboratory and clinical expertise in transplantation and translational immunology. She is the Director of Pediatric Stem Cell Transplant at Boston Children’s Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and is the Stranahan Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. She is the Chair of the Pediatric Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Consortium (PTCTC). Dr. Kean’s research program is focused on the immunology of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and immune tolerance in allo- and auto-immune diseases. The overarching goal of her research is to understand mechanisms underlying immune tolerance, with a specific focus on mixed-chimerism induction for solid organ transplantation, graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), transplant rejection, the immunology of GI auto-immune diseases, and the reconstitution of protective immunity after transplantation. Dr. Kean’s work has led to the creation of multiple novel, MHC-defined non-human primate models of both engraftment and GvHD and to several first-in-disease clinical trials.
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Joseph A. Majzoub

Joseph A. Majzoub attended the University of Michigan Honors College and Stanford University School of Medicine. These were followed by internship, residency, and chief residency at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, and a postdoctoral fellowship in endocrinology at the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Majzoub Read More joined the Division of Endocrinology at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in 1981, where he remained until moving to Boston Children’s Hospital in 1989 as Chief of the Division of Endocrinology, a position he held for over 29 years until stepping down in 2018 to become the Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Majzoub is the Thomas Morgan Rotch Professor of Pediatrics and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Majzoub’s research concerns how stress influences health and disease, with a particular interest in diseases of the adrenal axis and obesity. He is the scientific founder of three biotech companies focused in molecular diagnostic, therapeutic, and genetic engineering domains. Dr. Majzoub is a mentor to many medical students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty throughout the United States, and has received several teaching and mentoring awards from Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School and the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences Technology Program.
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Joseph A. Majzoub


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Joseph A. Majzoub attended the University of Michigan Honors College and Stanford University School of Medicine. These were followed by internship, residency, and chief residency at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, and a postdoctoral fellowship in endocrinology at the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Majzoub joined the Division of Endocrinology at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in 1981, where he remained until moving to Boston Children’s Hospital in 1989 as Chief of the Division of Endocrinology, a position he held for over 29 years until stepping down in 2018 to become the Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Majzoub is the Thomas Morgan Rotch Professor of Pediatrics and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Majzoub’s research concerns how stress influences health and disease, with a particular interest in diseases of the adrenal axis and obesity. He is the scientific founder of three biotech companies focused in molecular diagnostic, therapeutic, and genetic engineering domains. Dr. Majzoub is a mentor to many medical students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty throughout the United States, and has received several teaching and mentoring awards from Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School and the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences Technology Program.
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Michael Foley

Michael Foley, Ph.D., is Chief Executive Officer for Deerfield Discovery and Development, and Vice President of Translational Drug Development at Deerfield. Dr. Foley joined Deerfield in 2018 to focus on academic collaborations. Most recently, he was the CEO and Sanders Director at Tri-Institutional Therapeutics Discovery Institute (Tri-I TDI) where he led the Read More efforts to discover drug candidates in an academic setting. Prior to Tri-I TDI, he was Director of the Chemical Biology Platform at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Dr. Foley is the founder and a director of Forma Therapeutics. In 2001, he founded Infinity Pharmaceuticals and in 2000, he founded CombinatoRx. In 1999, he was a founding member of the Harvard Institute of Chemistry and Cell Biology and served as the head of Chemical Technology. He was a GlaxoSmithKline Fellow at Harvard University and previously a Research Chemist at GlaxoSmithKline. Dr. Foley began his career at Bristol-Myers Squibb as a Research Chemist. He received his B.S. from St. Norbert College, his M.S. from Utah State University and his Ph.D. from Harvard University.
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Michael Foley


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Michael Foley, Ph.D., is Chief Executive Officer for Deerfield Discovery and Development, and Vice President of Translational Drug Development at Deerfield. Dr. Foley joined Deerfield in 2018 to focus on academic collaborations. Most recently, he was the CEO and Sanders Director at Tri-Institutional Therapeutics Discovery Institute (Tri-I TDI) where he led the efforts to discover drug candidates in an academic setting. Prior to Tri-I TDI, he was Director of the Chemical Biology Platform at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Dr. Foley is the founder and a director of Forma Therapeutics. In 2001, he founded Infinity Pharmaceuticals and in 2000, he founded CombinatoRx. In 1999, he was a founding member of the Harvard Institute of Chemistry and Cell Biology and served as the head of Chemical Technology. He was a GlaxoSmithKline Fellow at Harvard University and previously a Research Chemist at GlaxoSmithKline. Dr. Foley began his career at Bristol-Myers Squibb as a Research Chemist. He received his B.S. from St. Norbert College, his M.S. from Utah State University and his Ph.D. from Harvard University.
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William Slattery

William Slattery is a Partner on the Therapeutics team and joined the Firm in 2000. Prior to Deerfield, Mr. Slattery was a senior healthcare analyst for 10 years at Amerindo Investment Advisors, where he oversaw biotechnology investments. He has held various positions in research including those at National Medical Enterprises, Johnson & Johnson, and HMSS. Mr. Slattery is the Chairman of Gilda’s Read More Club New York City, a non-profit organization supporting cancer patients and their families. He holds an undergraduate degree in Biology and Chemistry from State University of New York at Albany and completed coursework in Immunology at the Graduate School-New Brunswick, Rutgers University.
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William Slattery


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William Slattery is a Partner on the Therapeutics team and joined the Firm in 2000. Prior to Deerfield, Mr. Slattery was a senior healthcare analyst for 10 years at Amerindo Investment Advisors, where he oversaw biotechnology investments. He has held various positions in research including those at National Medical Enterprises, Johnson & Johnson, and HMSS. Mr. Slattery is the Chairman of Gilda’s Club New York City, a non-profit organization supporting cancer patients and their families. He holds an undergraduate degree in Biology and Chemistry from State University of New York at Albany and completed coursework in Immunology at the Graduate School-New Brunswick, Rutgers University.
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Scientific Collaboration Directors

Mei-Mei Huang

Mei-Mei joined the Technology and Innovation Development Office (TIDO) of Boston Children’s Hospital in July 2017 as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence, with the mission of helping Boston Children’s Hospital’s Principle Investigators to build new ventures using their relatively mature technologies. Read More Mei-Mei has 18+ years of experience working in pharmaceutical and biotech industry. She has held key functions in multiple areas, including project management, operations and business development & licensing. Mei-Mei obtained her PhD in molecular biology at University of Southern California and MBA at University of California at Los Angeles.
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Mei-Mei Huang


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Mei-Mei joined the Technology and Innovation Development Office (TIDO) of Boston Children’s Hospital in July 2017 as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence, with the mission of helping Boston Children’s Hospital’s Principle Investigators to build new ventures using their relatively mature technologies.

Mei-Mei has 18+ years of experience working in pharmaceutical and biotech industry. She has held key functions in multiple areas, including project management, operations and business development & licensing. Mei-Mei obtained her PhD in molecular biology at University of Southern California and MBA at University of California at Los Angeles.
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Sabrina Kamran

Sabrina joined the Technology and Innovation Development Office (TIDO) of Boston Children’s Hospital in January 2021. As a Strategic Alliance Manager, she is responsible for building and managing alliances with external partners and internal stakeholders. Read More Prior to joining TIDO, Sabrina was a Business Development Manager at Ximbio (part of Cancer Research UK). During her time at Ximbio, Sabrina built new partnerships with academic and research institutions in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico and evaluated research tools for licensing and commercialization. Sabrina received her Ph.D in Pharmacology from the University of Washington and completed her Technology Entrepreneurial Certificate through the Foster School of Business. During her graduate career, Sabrina received a summer fellowship with ITHS/WRF Capital. Sabrina was involved in Seattle life science community, including service as member for the Life Science and Global Health Workforce Panel of the Washington State Governor’s Office.
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Sabrina Kamran


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Sabrina joined the Technology and Innovation Development Office (TIDO) of Boston Children’s Hospital in January 2021. As a Strategic Alliance Manager, she is responsible for building and managing alliances with external partners and internal stakeholders.

Prior to joining TIDO, Sabrina was a Business Development Manager at Ximbio (part of Cancer Research UK). During her time at Ximbio, Sabrina built new partnerships with academic and research institutions in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico and evaluated research tools for licensing and commercialization. Sabrina received her Ph.D in Pharmacology from the University of Washington and completed her Technology Entrepreneurial Certificate through the Foster School of Business. During her graduate career, Sabrina received a summer fellowship with ITHS/WRF Capital. Sabrina was involved in Seattle life science community, including service as member for the Life Science and Global Health Workforce Panel of the Washington State Governor’s Office.
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News & Events

Blackfan Circle Innovations Information Session
Event PDF
Blackfan Circle Innovations Announces First Project Agreement

Blackfan Circle Innovations Announces First Project Agreement

5/4/2022

BOSTON — Blackfan Circle Innovations, LLC, a company created by Deerfield Management to facilitate a research collaboration with Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH), announced today the first project agreement to advance BCH researchers’ innovations towards the development of a clinical therapeutic. Under this project agreement, Blackfan Circle will provide the funding and operational expertise to drive the advancement of a novel gene therapy in collaboration with the laboratory of Friedhelm Hildebrandt, MD.

Dr. Hildebrandt, Chief of the Division of Nephrology of Boston Children's Hospital, and a Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, has made pivotal contributions to the field of pediatric kidney diseases. His research is concerned with the identification and functional characterization of recessive single-gene causes of kidney diseases in children and his group has identified over 80 novel kidney disease genes and delineated the related pathogenesis.

“The recent discovery of over 200 monogenic recessive causes of chronic kidney disease opens up the possibility of devising scalable gene replacement approaches, rather than having to develop small molecule drugs to hundreds of different targets,” stated Dr. Hildebrandt.

“We are excited to launch Blackfan Circle’s first drug discovery project alongside Dr. Hildebrandt” said Mike Foley, Joint Steering Committee Member at Blackfan Circle Innovations, and Chief Executive Officer Discovery and Development, and Vice President of Translational Drug Development at Deerfield. “This project exemplifies the kind of transformative research that Blackfan aims to push forward and highlights our strategic commitment to gene therapy as a key therapeutic modality to address unmet medical needs.”

The collaboration between Blackfan Circle Innovations and BCH is designed to partner Boston Children’s Hospital researchers with Deerfield’s expert drug discovery and development team, Deerfield Discovery and Development (3DC), to advance novel therapeutics from early stages of drug discovery through an Investigational New Drug (IND) application. Deerfield may also provide additional capital to fund successful start-up companies that spin-out of Blackfan Circle.

Blackfan Circle uses a multi-phase process to select which projects to fund, with rigorous review of both the scientific merit and commercial viability of the therapeutic concept. For approved projects like Dr. Hildebrandt’s, a joint team works in partnership to develop a multi-year, milestone-driven workplan and budget aimed at translating the novel research into a clinical candidate. Principle Investigators (PI) focus on research activities in their specific area of expertise while Blackfan Circle leverages Deerfield’s considerable drug development expertise and scale.

Blackfan Circle will be hosting an informational session on May 17, 2022 at 3PM. If you are interested in attending, please register here.

About Blackfan Circle
Blackfan Circle Innovations was formed in 2020 with the goal of translating the work of Boston Children’s Hospital biomedical researchers and accelerating innovation for potential commercial biopharmaceutical uses. Deerfield is providing up to $65 million in funding as well as operational support to jointly selected research initiatives with the objective of achieving Investigational New Drug (IND) readiness.

For more information, please visit blackfancircle.com or reach out to Sabrina Kamran at Sabrina.Kamran@childrens.harvard.edu.

Past News and Events

Boston Children’s Hospital and Deerfield Join Forces to Accelerate the Development of Novel Therapies to Patients
Q&A panel on Tuesday, 2/9 at 3:00 PM
 

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How to Apply

For more information on proposal submissions, please reach out to Blackfan Scientific Collaboration Directors, Mei-Mei Huang Mei-Mei.Huang@childrens.harvard.edu and Sabrina Kamran Sabrina.Kamran@childrens.harvard.edu.

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