ST. LOUIS, MO (Oct. 25, 2017)—RiverVest Venture Partners announced today that Ronald T. Borchardt, Ph.D. and Jared Rutter, Ph.D. have joined the life science venture capital firm’s Scientific Advisory Board. Comprised of leaders in medical research, RiverVest’s Scientific Advisory Board provides expert guidance to the venture firm as it identifies and invests in promising biopharmaceutical and medical device companies.

Dr. Borchardt is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at The University of Kansas-Lawrence. Borchardt’s contributions to the development and validation of cell cultures for studying drug transport across the intestinal mucosa and the blood-brain barrier have been particularly significant. His pioneering work led to the introduction of a cell culture model now widely used by scientists in pharmaceutical/biotechnology companies and in academic and government laboratories worldwide.

Borchardt received his B.S. in Pharmacy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from The University of Kansas-Lawrence. After serving as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institutes of Health, Borchardt returned to The University of Kansas where he was promoted through the ranks to the position of Solon E. Summerfield Distinguished Professor, a position he held for 34 years until his retirement in 2015. From 1983-1998, Borchardt served as chairman of the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry in the School of Pharmacy at The University of Kansas.

Throughout his academic career, Borchardt received numerous awards and honors for his teaching and research accomplishments. He is the author of more than 500 scientific publications and has had editorial responsibility for several scientific journals.

Drawn to the fundamental mechanisms that cells use to sense their surrounding environment, Dr. Rutter is an outstanding researcher and professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Utah and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Rutter and his research group study how cells monitor nutrients, metabolic conditions and hormonal environments.  Since mitochondria serve as a major metabolic sensor, unfolding the mitochondrial proteome, of which roughly one-third is uncharacterized, will identify keys to understanding and treating diseases like cancer, heart failure and neurodegeneration (Parkinson’s, Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s).  Rutter received a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University, Utah, and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

“We are truly honored to have these two pioneering researchers join our team,” said RiverVest Managing Director John McKearn, Ph.D. “They will bring invaluable insight to our work identifying and working with high potential biopharmaceutical and medical device advances.”

Borchardt and Rutter join current RiverVest Scientific Advisory Board members:

• Floyd E. Bloom, M.D., professor emeritus in the Molecular and Integrative Neuroscience Department at The Scripps Research Institute.
• John F. DiPersio, M.D., Ph.D., chief of the Division of Medical Oncology at Washington University School of Medicine and the Virginia E. and Samuel J. Golman Professor of Medicine.
• William A. Peck, M.D., co-director of Washington University in St. Louis’ Center for Health Economics and Policy and former executive vice chancellor for medical affairs at Washington University in St. Louis, dean of the School of Medicine and president of the Medical Center.

About RiverVest Venture Partners

RiverVest Venture Partners is a venture capital firm focused on identifying and shaping early-stage life science companies to create significant shareholder value. Because of its extensive operating expertise, RiverVest is able to help entrepreneurs achieve near-term objectives that position their companies for exit.

Established in 2000, RiverVest has funded 39 and exited or taken public 20 innovative life science companies. The venture capital firm has assets under management of $315 million. Follow on Twitter: @RiverVest.

 

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