Paula Soteropoulos is an executive leader with more than 30 years of experience in the biopharm industry in areas of drug development, manufacturing, business development, global commercialization and company building. Paula is a strategic advisor to 5AM Ventures and serves as the Executive Chairman of a 5AM Ventures NewCo. She also serves on the board of directors of uniQure, a leader in gene therapy and most recently served as the CEO and a member of the board of directors of rare disease therapeutic developer Akcea Therapeutics. Paula was the founding President and CEO in 2015 and led the company through its IPO on NASDAQ in 2017, as well as significant growth: employing over 270 staff in thirteen countries, six drugs in its portfolio with 2 rare disease drug approvals. Under Paula’s tenure, Akcea was named by the Boston Business Journal as Massachusetts’ fastest growing public company in 2017 and one of the top stock performers in Massachusetts in 2018 and named one of Massachusetts’ Top 100 Women-Led Businesses in 2016, 2017, 2018 and Top 20 in 2019. Prior, Paula served as Senior Vice President and General Manager, Cardiometabolic Business and Strategic Alliances at Moderna Therapeutics and worked for over 20 years at Genzyme Corporation, most recently as Vice President and General Manager, Cardiovascular, Rare Diseases. She also serves on the Advisory Board of the Tufts University Chemical and Biological Engineering Department. Paula has been involved with a number of initiatives to support the development of female leadership in business, including the Healthcare Business Women’s Association and Women Unlimited. Paula has B.S. and Master’s degrees in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering from Tufts University and an executive management certificate from the Darden School of Business, University of Virginia.