Angie You

CEO, Architect Therapeutics

Angie is a founder/CEO of Architect Therapeutics, a small molecule drug discovery company focused on developing breakthrough therapies in oncology and immunology. She has been a C-suite member of several biotech companies, including as CEO of Amunix Pharmaceuticals, where she orchestrated a sale of the company to Sanofi for over $1.2 billion, and as chief business officer at Sierra Oncology (acquired for $1.9 billion by GSK in 2021) where she guided the company through a successful initial public offering and at Aragon Pharmaceuticals where she led the acquisition of the company by Janssen in 2014 for $1 billion. Angie is also a senior advisor to Frazier Healthcare Partners in addition to being an independent board member at ORIC Pharmaceuticals, Attovia Therapeutics and Candid Therapeutics. 

Angie earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Harvard University and a B.A. in chemistry from Harvard College. 

Among her volunteer commitments, she is co-founder of the Biotech CEO Sisterhood, a community of female CEOs, as well as a board advisor to Life Science Cares. Angie was born in Seoul, Korea, raised on the East Coast and now splits time between the Bay Area and San Diego. 

Role model: Connie Chung, Asian American journalist and the first prominent Asian female Angie saw on TV (her sister is named after her)

Bong Koh

Investor, Venrock

Bong works predominantly on Venrock’s public and cross-over biotech fund, Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners. With over 20 years of investment experience, he has led the financing for numerous biotech companies and served on the board of directors for Artiva Biotherapeutics, AveXis (acquired by Novartis for $8.7 billion) and RayzeBio (acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb for $4.1 billion). 

He has also been a board member for the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families.

Prior to his career in venture, Bong trained at Harvard’s Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary for ophthalmology, Stanford Hospital for internal medicine, and the University of California, San Francisco for pathology. He earned his B.A. from Yale University, his M.D. from U.C.S.F., and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. 

Role model: Daniel K. Inouye, U.S. senator for Hawaii from 1963 to 2012, president pro tempore from 2010 to 2012, the highest ranking Asian American politician in U.S. history until 2021, and during World War II, served in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, an all Japanese American unit, where he won the Medal of Honor 

Chen Yu

Founder and Managing Partner, TCGX

Chen is the founder and managing partner at TCGX, a healthcare investment firm. Prior to TCGX, Chen spent sixteen years as a managing partner at Vivo Capital, a life sciences focused investor with $4.5 billion assets under management. He has extensive operating experience with leadership roles at both private and public companies, including stints as the COO of Sagent Pharmaceuticals and CBO of China KangHui, both of which went public and were ultimately acquired. Chen has served or is on the board of over a dozen private and public companies. 

He is active in his community and serves on the California Leadership Council for the Nature Conservancy and was previously a member of the Stanford Medical School Alumni Board of Governors.  Chen received his M.D. and M.B.A. from Stanford University and graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in biology from Harvard University. 

A devoted Steelers fan, Chen grew up in Pittsburgh where his father was a professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. He lives with his family in the Bay Area.  

Role model: His father Victor Yu, a tireless clinician, teacher and researcher who made significant advancements in the understanding of Legionnaires’ disease

June Lee

Biotech executive and board director

June was an investor and venture partner at 5AM Ventures, a biopharmaceutical investment firm. A physician-scientist, she has over 25 years in the industry, as an experienced founder and operator of biotech companies and an independent board member for both public and private companies. She previously served as the chief operating officer of MyoKardia, which was acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb for $13.1 billion in 2020. MyoKardia’s lead program, mavacamten, was approved by the FDA for use in obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy patients as the first precision therapy in this indication. 

June received her B.A. in chemistry at the Johns Hopkins University, earned her M.D. from the University of California, Davis, and completed her clinical training in internal medicine and pulmonary and critical care at U.C.L.A. and U.C.S.F. She was formerly a professor at U.C.S.F. School of Medicine.

June has served on numerous non-profit boards including as board chair for the Council of Korean Americans, which advances the voice and influence of the Korean American community. 

She was born in Seoul, South Korea, and immigrated to the United States at age 10. Her family lives in the Bay Area.

Ken Song

Chairman, President and CEO, Candid Therapeutics

Ken is the chairman and CEO of Candid Therapeutics, a clinical stage biotech company. He recently served as CEO at RayzeBio from company launch through the over $350 million initial public offering in September 2023 and the $4.1 billion acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb in February 2024. Ken serves or has served as CEO or executive chairman of Ablaze Pharmaceuticals, Metacrine, Omniome, Ariosa Diagnostics, and Averto Medical, and collectively with RayzeBio, provided over $5.5 billion in realized value to shareholders across four M&A transactions. 

Ken received a B.S. in biology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.D. from University of California, San Francisco. He trained in internal medicine at U.C.S.F., and specialized in gastroenterology and hepatology at the University of Washington, and was a scientific research fellow at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. 

Ken lives with his family in San Diego and recently discovered the appeal of K dramas. He is a supporter and mentor for SD2, a non-profit dedicated to advancing underprivileged youth into STEM careers.

Role model: Connie Chung, pioneer breaking into major news media for both women as well as Asians.

Lorence Kim

Co-founder and Managing Partner, Ascenta Capital

Lorence Kim co-founded biotech venture firm Ascenta Capital in 2023. He served as the chief financial officer of Moderna from 2014 to 2020, raising billions for the company and deploying resources to discover and advance its pipeline of 24 mRNA programs, including its Covid-19 vaccine. Lorence was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs from 2000 to 2014, where he was a managing director and co-head of the U.S. biotech banking effort. 

Lorence serves on the board of governors of the American Red Cross and on the advisory board for the Vagelos Program in Life Sciences & Management at the University of Pennsylvania. 

He graduated from Harvard with an A.B. in biochemical sciences. He earned an M.B.A. as a Palmer Scholar from Wharton and an M.D. from the Penn School of Medicine.

Lorence grew up as one of a handful of Asian Americans in a small town east of Pittsburgh, and ultimately made his way to New York City, where he and his wife have raised three children. You can often find him on the hockey rink, the ski slopes or running the Central Park loop.

Role model: George Takei, aka Lt. Commander Sulu, and also an advocate who was unapologetic and unafraid to use his fame 

Matt Kim

Managing Director, Jefferies

Matt Kim is the co-head of the U.S. biotech in the Global Healthcare Investment Banking Group at Jefferies where he leads the biotech practice advising corporate clients in corporate finance and merger and acquisition strategy. 

Matt has over 20 years of investment banking experience and has advised on over 250 life sciences transactions.

Matt was a Howard Hughes Research Fellow at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Duke University where he focused his research on membrane-spanning proteins. He graduated from Duke University with a B.S. in biology and economics and was a University Scholar. Born and raised in the Annapolis, Maryland area, he now resides in New York City with his wife and two children.

Role model: His dad, Hoi Kim, who came to America in his 20s with only a dream and a strong work ethic and embodied the American dream, showing Matt how to achieve his dreams while being a loving husband and father

Elaine Chen

Executive Director, ElevAAte

Elaine is a former lawyer and journalist whose work has appeared on NPR, The Miami Herald and The New York Times.

She joined The Times in 2017 on a team leading the effort to transform the newsroom into a digital-first publication. During the pandemic, she helped shepherd Times events online and led an ambitious citizen science project with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which included dozens of articles and even a bird-themed crossword.

Elaine also wrote stories about Manhattan Chinatown — documenting how family associations and long-time businesses coped with the neighborhood's declining Chinese population and the impact of Covid. 

Elaine began her journalism career in public radio, producing public affairs talk shows, and later at a health podcast, where she collaborated with scientists to help listeners engage with cutting-edge research. 

Before media, Elaine was a litigator for the City of New York where she worked in a division dedicated to using novel legal theories to advance the City's interests. 

She earned a B.A. from Columbia College and a J.D. from Georgetown University. She lives with her husband and two kids in New York City. 

Role model: Fred Korematsu, who had the courage to challenge the U.S. government’s internment of Japanese Americans during World War II