ABOUT US

OUR STORY
LEADERSHIP
BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OUR STORY
LEADERSHIP
BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Jesse Shefferman

Co-founder, Director, Chief Executive Officer

Jesse Shefferman

Co-founder, Director, Chief Executive Officer

Jesse Shefferman is a co-founder of Protara and has led the Company since its inception through the addition of two late-stage assets, the establishment of multiple late-stage development programs and its listing on NASDAQ in early 2020. Jesse has spent over twenty years in the biopharma industry holding several strategic leadership and financial roles.

Prior to co-founding Protara, Jesse was Vice President and Head of Business Development at Retrophin Inc., a leading rare diseases company where Jesse was a member of the executive leadership team and executed a number of company-defining transactions.

Prior to Retrophin, Jesse served as Director, Strategy and Business Development at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he focused on hepatology and rare disease programs. Jesse previously served as an investment banker with Barclays Capital and Lehman Brothers, where he focused on providing strategic and financial advice to the management teams and boards of directors of numerous biopharmaceutical companies.

Jesse holds an MBA and Certificate in Health Sector Management from Duke University and a BA in Accounting from Gordon College.

Chief Financial Officer

Blaine Davis

Chief Financial Officer

Blaine Davis has served as Protara’s Chief Financial Officer since February 2020 and brings more than 20 years of experience in investor relations, corporate affairs, and sales and marketing at life sciences companies. Prior to joining Protara, Blaine served as Vice President, Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications at Insmed starting in July 2017. Previously, Blaine held multiple executive leadership positions at Endo International, including Senior Vice President and General Manager, Specialty Pharmaceuticals; President of Endo Ventures; and Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications. Prior to Endo, Blaine held positions in corporate and business development and investor relations at Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Blaine holds a BA in Biology and Psychology with a minor in Economics from Middlebury College.

JACQUELINE ZUMMO, PhD, MPH, MBA

Co-founder, Senior Vice President, Chief Scientific Operations Officer

Dr. Jacqueline Zummo is a co-founder of Protara and has served as Senior Vice President, R&D Operations since March 2019 and previously served as the Company’s Vice President, Research Operations since November 2017…

JACQUELINE ZUMMO, PhD, MPH, MBA

Co-founder, Senior Vice President, Chief Scientific Operations Officer

Dr. Jacqueline Zummo is a co-founder of Protara and has served as Senior Vice President, R&D Operations since March 2019 and previously served as the Company’s Vice President, Clinical Research and Medical Affairs since November 2017. Dr. Zummo has over 15 years of experience in senior leadership roles in the biopharma industry, with a strong track record of streamlining clinical development programs and driving successful regulatory outcomes. In addition to her work in clinical development, Dr. Zummo has been instrumental in the launch and commercialization of multiple products through strategic relationship building with KOLs, generating HEOR analytics, and communicating real-world value to managed care organizations.

Prior to joining Protara, Dr. Zummo was Assistant Vice President, Medical Affairs at Vyera Pharmaceuticals, LLC, with prior clinical development, operations and medical affairs roles at Alkermes, Inc., Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc. (later acquired by Pfizer, Inc.).

Dr. Zummo holds a BA from Penn State University, an MBA in Healthcare Marketing from Benedictine University, an MPH in Epidemiology from Benedictine University, and a PhD in Global Health Sciences from Nova Southeastern University.

Chief Medical Officer

MARTÍN SEBASTIAN OLIVO, MD

Chief Medical Officer

Martín Sebastian Olivo, M.D. has served as our Chief Medical Officer since April 2021. Dr. Olivo brings more than 15 years of experience in oncology translational and clinical research and global drug development. Prior to joining the Company, Dr. Olivo served as Vice President, Breast Cancer Clinical Development Lead, at Gilead Sciences, Inc. (formerly Immunomedics, Inc.), a public biopharmaceutical company, from August 2018 to April 2021, where he led clinical development of a treatment for metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. Prior to joining Immunomedics, he served as Global Clinical Lead at Daiichi Sankyo Cancer Enterprise, a global pharmaceutical company, from July 2017 to July 2018, where he established a comprehensive clinical development plan for an early-stage oncology product candidate with applications in lung and breast cancer. From January 2011 to July 2017, Dr. Olivo served in several roles of increasing responsibility in the oncology business group at Eisai Inc., a pharmaceutical company, most recently serving as an International Project Team Leader.

Dr. Olivo received his M.D. from the University of Buenos Aires and his M.S. in Clinical and Pharmacological Research from Austral University in Buenos Aires. He completed his degree as Clinical Oncologist at the University of Salvador. He has held various academic and clinical positions at the School of Medicine at the University of Buenos Aires, Hospital “Dr. Enrique Tornú” and the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group.