Rachel Lane was named CBO of Belharra Therapeutics in August 2023, following two years as Interim CBO, during which time she established Belharra’s flagship strategic collaboration deal with Genentech. Rachel brings over a decade of experience to the role leading R&D collaborations, transactions, and portfolio strategy across both private and public companies. She joins Belharra from Versant Ventures where she was responsible for new investments, including company creation and business development as CBO of Inception Therapeutics, Versant’s biotech incubator. Prior to Versant, Rachel also held diverse roles across the industry in business development at Calico Life Sciences and Ovid Therapeutics, early-stage investing at the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, and as a Wall Street sell-side analyst.
Rachel is a neurobiologist by training, gaining her PhD in cell and molecular biology from the University of Sheffield and postdoctoral training in neurobiology from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.
Clare Ozawa, Ph.D., became a Versant Managing Director in 2017 and leads investments in San Diego and the Bay Area. Clare previously oversaw strategic business operations for all Inception Sciences research sites across North America. During her tenure at Inception, she assumed leadership roles in the creation and management of six new companies launched in partnership with academic researchers and major biopharmaceutical companies.
Clare joined as Inception’s founding chief business officer in 2011 and was promoted to COO in 2014. She previously was an investment professional at Versant, where she was involved in several successful investments including Flexion (2014 IPO), BioTie (sale) and Quanticel (sale).
Clare joined Versant from Novartis Pharma, where she worked in the Office of the CEO, leading strategic initiatives for the Novartis Pharma Executive Committee. Previously, Clare was at McKinsey & Company where she advised clients across the biopharmaceutical sector. Clare earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biological sciences with honors and distinction from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in neurosciences from Stanford University Medical School.
In addition to serving on Belharra’s board, Clare currently sits on the board of 858 Therapeutics, Capsida Biotherapeutics, Lycia Therapeutics, Oyster Point Pharmaceuticals (OYST) and Pipeline Therapeutics.
Richard Glynne joined Inception Therapeutics as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) in 2018 and has helped form several biotech companies in this position, including Belharra Therapeutics. Richard served as interim CSO of Belharra while in seed stage, joined the board in 2023, and assumed the interim CEO role in 2025. Richard joined Inception after leading search and evaluation for immune oncology, immunology and digital therapeutics in the business development group at Novartis. Prior to the BD role, Richard served as an Executive Director, leading a research group at the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, that focused on infectious disease and immunology and contributed to multiple pre-clinical and clinical development programs. Richard trained in immunology and genetics during his PhD (ICRF, London) and post-doc (HHMI, Stanford), after which he held leadership positions in Eos Biotechnology and Phenomix Corporation, before joining Novartis in 2004.
Jeff Jonker was appointed President and Chief Operating Officer of Xaira Therapeutics in July 2025. He previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Belharra Therapeutics, which he joined in September 2021 as its first employee. He is an accomplished biotech executive with extensive experience as an operator, director, senior advisor, and outside counsel for a broad range of public and private companies and venture investors. Prior to Belharra, Jeff served as CEO of Ambys Medicines, President of NGM Pharmaceuticals, and Senior Vice President, Corporate and Business Development at Theravance Biopharma (NASDAQ: TBPH). His other executive roles include Chief Business Officer of Satori Pharmaceuticals, Vice President of Business Development and Corporate Strategy for Gloucester Pharmaceuticals prior to its acquisition by Celgene, and multiple leadership positions in the business development and legal groups at Genentech. Jeff began his career at Wilson Sonsini, representing clients in the life science and high-tech industries. Jeff serves on the Board of Directors of TOLREMO therapeutics AG and on the Board of Directors of California Life Sciences. Jeff holds a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law, an M.LITT. from the University of St. Andrews, and a B.A. from Claremont McKenna College.
Richard Glynne joined Inception Therapeutics as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) in 2018 and has helped form several biotech companies in this position, including Belharra Therapeutics. Richard served as interim CSO of Belharra while in seed stage, joined the board in 2023, and assumed the interim CEO role in 2025. Richard joined Inception after leading search and evaluation for immune oncology, immunology and digital therapeutics in the business development group at Novartis. Prior to the BD role, Richard served as an Executive Director, leading a research group at the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, that focused on infectious disease and immunology and contributed to multiple pre-clinical and clinical development programs. Richard trained in immunology and genetics during his PhD (ICRF, London) and post-doc (HHMI, Stanford), after which he held leadership positions in Eos Biotechnology and Phenomix Corporation, before joining Novartis in 2004.
Brandon Allgood is a serial entrepreneur and researcher focused on applying machine learning (ML) and large-scale computational methods to improve human health. Currently, Brandon runs a consulting and early-stage investment company, Obsidian Scientific. LLC, where he uses his 23 years of experience in developing AI based platforms in healthcare to help large pharma, venture capital, private equity, and start-ups with AI strategy, platform architecture, early research, and technology management. Brandon previously helped build three companies, Valo Health, Numerate, and Pharmix, at the forefront of applying modern ML and computational methods to drug discovery and development in diverse subfields, including chemistry, biology, clinical trials, and real-world health data.
Brandon was formerly the Chief AI Officer at Valo Health where he provided technology vision from the beginning through the growth phase of the company and managed the engineering and data science teams that were developing and applying Valo’s AI-based platform, the Opal Computational Platform. Prior to Valo Health, Brandon was the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Numerate, a leader in ML-driven computational small molecule drug design. At Numerate, he led the engineering and data science teams in developing Numerate’s Data Driven Drug Design (D4) Platform, which was used successfully on over 30+ drug design programs at Numerate and in partnership with small biotechnology and large pharmaceutical companies.
Brandon received a B.S. in Physics from the University of Washington, Seattle, and a Ph.D. in Theoretical Cosmology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Brandon has authored scientific publications in astrophysics, solid-state physics, computational biology and chemistry, and business. He is also founder and former executive chair of the Alliance for AI in Healthcare (AAIH), former UCSC Foundation Trustee and current Baskin School of Engineering Dean’s Council member. Brandon also currently teaches machine learning at UC Berkeley.
Richard A. Heyman, PhD, is a scientist and entrepreneur with more than 25 years of experience in co-founding and building biotech and life science companies. Rich most recently served as Chairman of both Vividion Therapeutics, which was purchased in August 2021 by Bayer Pharma and Amunix Pharma, purchased by Sanofi in December 2021. He is the co-founder and Chairman of ORIC Pharmaceuticals, which is developing drugs to overcome resistance in cancer. Previously, Rich was the co-founder and CEO of Aragon and Seragon Pharmaceuticals, which focused on therapeutics targeting hormone dependent cancers; J&J purchased Aragon in 2013 and Genentech purchased Seragon one year later. He has been involved in the discovery and development of multiple therapeutic agents approved by the FDA, including the prostate cancer drug, Erleada. Rich is a Venture Partner for Arch Ventures and serves as Chairman of PMV Pharma and Rayze Bio, as well as serving on the BOD of Enliven Therapeutics and the ongoing Vividion/Bayer venture. In addition to his corporate experience, Rich is Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees at the Salk Institute, on the Board Foundation for the AACR, the BOD at the UCSD Moores Cancer Center and a founding member of both Life Science Cares, San Diego and Curebound. He has won numerous awards including Ernst and Young San Diego Regional Entrepreneur of the Year, Connect Hall of Fame Award, the UCSD Rell Sun Award and the Endocrine Society Outstanding Innovation Award. Earlier in his career he trained as an NIH postdoctoral fellow and staff scientist at the Salk Institute. Rich is the author or inventor on more than 125 publications and patents.
Sean joined Belharra in August 2022. Prior to assuming the role of Chief Scientific Officer in January 2025, Dr. Buchanan served as Belharra’s Senior Vice President, Head of Biology. Sean has over 20 years’ experience in cancer biology and drug discovery. Before joining Belharra, he was at GNF/Novartis where he served as Executive Director of Cancer Therapeutics, responsible for the NIBR San Diego Oncology Drug Discovery portfolio. Prior to Novartis, he was at Eli Lilly for over a decade, serving in various roles and contributing to multiple cancer medicines and drug candidates. He started his industry career in 1999 at SGX Pharmaceuticals where he led the biology team. SGX was acquired by Eli Lilly in 2008.
Sean received his Ph.D. and Master’s degrees in Biochemistry at Cambridge University in the UK and did his post-doctoral research in Molecular Genetics at UCSD.
Olesya joined Belharra in November 2021 as Director of Discovery Biology supporting early discovery efforts and target validation. Before joining Belharra, Olesya was at the Lundbeck La Jolla Research Center where she served as a team lead applying chemoproteomic approach to early-stage discovery programs in the neuroinflammation space. Prior to Lundbeck, Olesya was at Abide Therapeutics validating novel drug targets and developing covalent serine hydrolase inhibitors for immunology and oncology programs.
Olesya received her Ph.D. degree in Chemical Biology at the University of Chicago and did her post-doctoral research at the Scripps Research Institute.
As a director of medicinal chemistry at Belharra, Yvonne is designing molecules to impact previously undruggable proteins and change the course of serious diseases. She is a passionate drug hunter with expertise in rare diseases and pain research. Prior to Belharra, Yvonne was part of the chemistry team at Inception Therapeutics where our company was founded. An organic chemist by training, she became a medicinal chemist by learning from countless colleagues at Vertex Pharmaceuticals in San Diego where she started her career. Yvonne is always looking to inspire a love for science in the younger generation and is an avid supporter of diversity and inclusion in STEAM.
Yvonne holds a diploma in chemistry and a Dr. rer. nat. from the University of Freiburg, Germany. Her PhD thesis focused on the enantioselective total synthesis of polyketide natural products and insect pheromones.
