Board of Directors

Steven Nichtberger, M.D.

President, Chief Executive Officer, and Co-Founder

Dr. Nichtberger has served as Chief Executive Officer, President, and Chairman of Cabaletta Bio since its founding in 2017. He is also a senior fellow and adjunct professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a member of the executive committee of the board of governors of Main Line Health, a not-for-profit regional health system. In 2008, his leadership as founding CEO of Tengion (2004-2011) was recognized nationally with the prestigious Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year® award for emerging companies. Earlier in his career, Dr. Nichtberger served as the head of global marketing for Merck and in various commercial operating roles at the company from 1995 to 2003. He has previously served as a member of the boards of directors of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (as a founding member), Pennsylvania Bio, (including as chairman), and Biotechnology Industry Organization. From 2008-2019 he was a member of the board of overseers for the School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Nichtberger received his M.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo, his B.S. from The Wharton School and his B.A. from the College of Arts & Sciences, at the University of Pennsylvania. He completed internship, residency, and fellowship in the Department of Medicine and the Division of Cardiology of the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York.

Catherine Bollard, M.D.

Independent Director, George Washington University

Dr. Bollard joined Cabaletta’s Board of Directors in April 2019. She is the director of the Center for Cancer and Immunology Research at the Children’s Research Institute and the director of the Program for Cell Enhancement and Technologies for Immunotherapy at the Children’s National Health System, or CNH. She is also a faculty member of the Division of the Blood and Marrow Transplantation of CNH. Since 2013, Dr. Bollard also serves as Professor of Pediatrics and Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine at George Washington University and is the associate center director for translational research and innovation within the George Washington Cancer Center. Prior to 2013, Dr. Bollard was Professor of Pediatrics, Medicine, and Immunology at Baylor College of Medicine. She is the immediate past president of the International Society for Cell Therapy, and she served on the Cellular, Tissues, and Gene Therapy Advisory Committee of the FDA until 2019. Dr. Bollard chaired the Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Committee of the Children’s Oncology Group from 2012 to 2020 and in 2021 became the President of the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy. Dr. Bollard received her medical degree from the University of Otago Medical School in New Zealand.

Scott Brun, M.D.

Independent Director, formerly at AbbVie

Scott Brun, M.D. has two decades of experience in various leadership roles at AbbVie, Inc., including 15 years at the predecessor company, Abbott Laboratories. The majority of his career has been focused on leading teams and clinical development organizations across a broad variety of therapeutic areas including autoimmune, neurologic, and renal among others. He was most recently Vice President of Scientific Affairs and Head of AbbVie Ventures, a corporate venture fund responsible for investment opportunities within AbbVie’s R&D therapeutic areas as well as technology platforms of interest. Previously, Dr. Brun served as Vice President and Head of Pharmaceutical Development at AbbVie. During his tenure at AbbVie, Dr. Brun oversaw a global organization with responsibilities for AbbVie’s entire portfolio of early and late-stage clinical pre-registration pipeline compounds as well as marketed compounds within oncology, neurology, immunology, renal, infectious disease, and women’s and men’s health therapeutic areas. Prior to joining AbbVie, Dr. Brun spent over 15 years at Abbott Laboratories, where he held positions of increasing leadership responsibility in drug development within the R&D organization. Dr. Brun is currently President at Gold Mast Consulting, LLC, an advisory firm he founded to provide technical advice and strategic guidance related to biopharmaceutical research and development, pipeline portfolio management, commercialization of new therapeutics and strategic communications related to R&D activities. Dr. Brun received his B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and earned his M.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed his residency in ophthalmology at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School.

Richard Henriques, M.B.A.

Independent Director, former CFO of Gates Foundation, former Controller at Merck

Mr. Henriques joined Cabaletta’s Board of Directors in February 2019. Since 2015, he has been a senior fellow at the Center for High Impact Philanthropy at the University of Pennsylvania, with a focus on impact investing. From 2010 to 2014, Mr. Henriques was the chief financial officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he was responsible for finance and accounting, financial planning and analysis, strategic planning, measurement and evaluation, program-related investments, and information technology. From 1981 to 2008, Mr. Henriques held positions at Merck & Co., Inc., including as Senior Vice President of Finance for Global Human Health, Vice President and Corporate Controller, and Principal Accounting Officer. Mr. Henriques also serves on the boards of directors of Emulate Therapeutics Inc. (formerly Nativis Inc.), Arbutus Biopharma Corporation, a public company, the Heritage Conservancy and Episcopal Community Services and on the board of trustees of the Franklin Institute.

Mark Simon, M.B.A.

Independent Director, Torreya Partners

Mark is a Strategic Advisor to the Founder and CEO of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., the largest pharmaceutical company in India, and a board observer of the Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company Ltd., both public companies in India, where Mr. Simon is focused on accelerating their innovation initiatives.   He is also a consultant to Stifel Nicolaus & Company (NYSE: SF) and a co-founder of Torreya Partners, LLC, a global investment banking firm serving companies in the life sciences industry that was purchased by Stifel in 2023. Before co-founding Torreya, Mr. Simon was a managing director and head of investment banking life sciences at Citigroup from 2002 to 2005, where he covered global pharmaceutical companies with a focus on large-capitalization players in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. Prior to Citigroup, Mr. Simon served as a Managing Director at Robertson Stephens in San Francisco and New York, responsible for covering the biotechnology investment banking sector. During his tenure overseeing the group, he was involved in raising 45% of all biotechnology dollars raised in the U.S. from 1999-2001. Before joining the investment banking group at Robertson, Mr. Simon was a senior biotechnology research analyst at Robertson Stephens and was named a Wall Street All-Star Analyst for three years in a row. He began his career at Kidder Peabody as a biotechnology research associate in 1984 and participated in the IPO of Genzyme and the early financings for companies such as Amgen. Mr. Simon currently serves on the board of directors of Cabaletta Bio, Inc., a clinical-stage biotech focusing on curative, targeted cell therapies for patients with autoimmune diseases. Mr. Simon also serves on the boards of directors of several disease advocacy and philanthropic foundations in oncology, CNS/neuroscience, and other areas and on an advisory board at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He received his MBA from Harvard Business School and his B.A. from Columbia College in NYC.

Shawn Tomasello, M.B.A.

Independent Director, former CCO of Kite Pharma, Inc.

Ms. Tomasello joined Cabaletta’s Board of Directors in July 2023. She brings over 35 years of experience in the life sciences industry and most recently served as Chief Commercial Officer of Kite Pharma (subsequently Kite, a Gilead Company), where she led the global launch and commercialization of Yescarta™ (axicabtagene ciloleucel), the first approved chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T therapy for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Prior to joining Kite, Ms. Tomasello served as Chief Commercial Officer at Pharmacyclics, Inc, now part of AbbVie, where she led commercial and medical affairs activities for Imbruvica®. Previously, she held senior leadership positions at Celgene Corporation, including President of the Americas, Hematology and Oncology, in which she oversaw over $4 billion in product revenues. During her tenure at Celgene, Ms. Tomasello was responsible for all aspects of commercial sales and marketing for five brands encompassing 11 indications. Prior to this, she was National Director of Hematology for Rituxan® at Genentech, representing the most significant portion of the company’s product revenue during her tenure. Earlier in her career, Ms. Tomasello held positions at Pfizer Laboratories, Miles Pharmaceuticals and Proctor & Gamble. She currently serves on the Boards of 4D Molecular Therapeutics, AlloVir and Gamida Cell Ltd. Ms. Tomasello holds a B.S. degree in marketing from the University of Cincinnati and an M.B.A. from Murray State University, KY.