Working together to empower life science innovation

Dan Geffken

Dan is an accomplished life science executive officer with more than 30 years of life science experience leading finance and operations for both venture-backed and publicly-held companies. Prior to co-founding Danforth Advisors, he was COO or CFO of a number of life science companies, including biotechnology, medical devices, life science tools and diagnostics entities.  From 1997-2002, he was CFO of Transkaryotic Therapies, Inc and participated in the launch of a drug to treat Fabry disease.

Dan holds a BS from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and a MBA from Harvard Business School.

Select Achievements

• Participated in 14 IPOs and multiple filings, two SPAC mergers and numerous private placements
• Participated in raising more than $2 billion through public and private financings
• Past President of the Association of Bioscience Financial Officers

Steve DiPalma

Steve is a well-established leader with more than 35 years of experience in life sciences and healthcare. He has served as a CFO, CEO and COO in companies ranging from venture-backed start-ups to subsidiaries of Fortune 100 firms and publicly traded entities. In these roles, he had responsibility for finance and accounting, human resources, information technology and facilities, and played a key role in business development and strategic planning. He was formerly Chairman of Cognoptix,  and served on the board of Phytera.

Steve holds a BS from the University of Massachusetts and an MBA from 
Babson College.

Select Achievements

• Led multiple IPOs and public and private financings as CFO
• Served as CFO for multiple public biotech companies
• Co-founded and successfully exited two life science companies

Dan Dehner

Dan brings over 20 years of experience in strategic advisory, accounting, and auditing for life science companies of all sizes. Prior to Danforth, he was a partner at CFGI, leading projects in audit readiness, IPO preparation, and M&A. He also ran his own accounting practice and spent over a decade with Ernst & Young and KPMG.

Dan is a Certified Public Accountant with a BS in Business Administration and Accounting from California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo.

Select Achievements

• Led multiple IPO projects on behalf of management 
• Built a professional services firm with 18FTE and $3m turnover
• Led multiple international project teams focused on bribery, corruption, and financial fraud

Barb Carlin

Barb is an accomplished finance executive with 25+ years of life science experience leading finance and operations for venture-backed and publicly-held companies. In addition to serving as a CFO consultant to several Danforth clients, Barb leads Danforth’s Mid-Atlantic practice, serving as a relationship partner for clients from Connecticut to Florida.

Prior to Danforth, Barb held CFO and senior finance leadership roles at companies, including Enterin, Egalet Corporation, SOBI, Topaz Pharmaceuticals, Genaera Corporation, Moksha8 and Vicuron.

 Barb holds a BS and MBA from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, PA.

Select Achievements

• Led accounting / finance operations and S-1 preparation for several IPOs
• Established corporate and finance organizations for multiple companies
• Support clients raising capital from seed through IPO financings

Gregg Beloff

Gregg is the founder of Danforth Advisors and an accomplished life sciences executive with nearly 30 years of experience in finance and operations for both venture-backed start-ups and public companies. 

He served as CFO at ImmunoGen (NASDAQ: IMGN) and Archemix and previously worked as an investment banker at Adams, Harkness & Hill. Gregg began his career as a corporate attorney.

Gregg holds a BA from Middlebury College, JD from the University of Pittsburgh, and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University. 

Select Achievements

• Involvement in five IPOs and multiple filings, one SPAC merger, numerous private placements and three acquisitions as CFO to client companies
  
• Built and managed operational departments including finance and accounting, human resources, facilities, corporate communications and information systems

Candice Cantelli Meklis

Candice brings more than 20 years of experience as a finance and operations leader in the life science, pharma, and digital health sectors. Prior to joining Danforth, she served as Senior Vice President of Finance Operations for Flagship Pioneering, where she led financial operations and FP&A across the firm’s 30+ portfolio companies.

Candice’s previous roles include CFO of PatientsLikeMe and FP&A leadership at Alkermes and Cubist Pharmaceuticals. She also served as Vice President and leader of the life science practice at Archetype Consulting.

Candice holds a BS and MBA in Finance from Bentley University.

Select Accomplishments:

• Served as CFO and acting head of HR for digital health company divested from United Health Group; established accounting, investment and operations policies and controls, streamlined revenue forecast and revenue recognition and partnered in business development
• Successfully built Finance and FP&A functions for two publicly traded biopharma companies.

Ted Raad

Ted is an accomplished life science executive with 25+ years of experience helping teams translate science into enterprise value, from early development through launch and lifecycle management. Prior to joining Danforth, he served as CEO, CBO, and board member at Pulmatrix, where he advanced the development pipeline through strategic financings and partnerships.

Ted’s previous roles include CCO at Option Care, VP of Home Infusion Sales & Marketing at Walgreens, VP of Sales & Marketing at Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, and Regional Sales Director at Novartis. He currently serves on the board of directors for Oxeia Biopharmaceuticals.

Ted holds an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management and a BS in Business Administration from the University of Colorado.

Select Accomplishments

• Secured $75 million in capital markets financing and more than $50 million in partnerships funding as CEO of Pulmatrix.
• As part of the executive team, spun out Walgreens’ $1.5 billion home drug infusion business to private equity, forming Option Care, the largest US home infusion provider.

Julianne Averill

Julianne is an accomplished CFO, audit committee chair, and commercial growth leader with 20+ years of experience leading life science, digital health, and techbio companies through scale and transformation. She has guided the close of billions of dollars through capital raises, M&A transactions, and IPOs.

Julianne currently serves as a board member and audit committee chair for Biomea Fusion and CureSearch for Children’s Cancer. Her previous roles include CFO and CBO at Alveo Technologies, VP of Finance at BlackThorn Therapeutics, and Associate VP of Finance & Accounting at Manifest MedEx.

Julianne holds MS and BS degrees in Accounting and Business Administration from California State University.

Select Accomplishments

• Led AI-enabled therapeutics organization through dual track of IPO planning and M&A process, resulting in completion of complex merger transaction valued at over $2B.
• Established BD team that closed over five major US and international collaboration/distribution/grant deals in a six-month period, establishing a medtech company’s initial product revenue and distribution channels.